Client Success Stories
kaylene
Kaylene had never experienced homelessness before last summer. “Never in my life have I been in this position,” she explained. A retired hairdresser and beauty salon owner, Kaylene was dedicating her retirement years to her daughter’s promising modeling career. The two came back to their home state of New Mexico to help a friend, but when they found the door locked, they realized they had no place to go. As they stayed at motels, night after night, Kaylene knew she had to get a job again, and her savings were running out.
“We’d never been homeless before. I’ve never had nothing but success, but I lost everything,” Kaylene’s voice dropped off as she talked about the most hopeless days and nights of her life. Without a family support system, they lived in her car, and then under a bridge, before finally staying at a crowded shelter. Then she heard about Barrett House, and put her name on the waiting list.
“I kept telling Kayla, all we have to do is get to Barrett House and then I’ll get a job, and we’ll be okay,” she recalled. Kaylene and Makayla knew right away that things were going to be okay when they walked into Barrett. They had their first hot meal in months, learned they could do laundry for free, and could take hot showers with shampoo and body wash. For the first time in months, mother and daughter slept well. “We took our shower, and I got in that bed, and I was like ‘I feel human again…”
With encouragement from our staff, Kaylene has started her life again. She’s trained for a new career as a Behavioral Technician and is now working with children who have autism. Meanwhile, Makayla says she and her mother are closer than ever, having come through this ordeal together.
malinda
A veteran of the U.S. Army, Malinda balanced a nursing career and raising kids in Tennessee. After they grew up and left home, she decided to try travel nursing, moving to Texas and then Oklahoma. New on the job, the pandemic destabilized her life and career. She came to New Mexico for the lower cost of living and to continue as a contractually based nurse. As she stayed in a homeless shelter that had limited computer access, strict curfews, and low resident to staff ratio, she missed the deadline to renew her nursing license. On the street again, she came to Barrett in December 2021. With the support of Barrett’s case manager and resident advocates, Malinda renewed her license, got a nursing job again, and moved into her new apartment. “I can’t thank Barrett enough,” she said, “this place made all the difference.”
claudia
Early summer of 2021, Claudia and her son were living out of their car, and grieving the loss of Claudia’s sister to an overdose. Claudia was determined to maintain her own long-standing sobriety and take care of her son. But without a supportive family or network, they were both losing strength, with every night they spent in the car. Kiser wasn’t eating, and they both had health issues that needed medical care. When they came to Barrett, one of our Resident Advocates gave Claudia a note that read, “Even broken crayons can still color.” That was her turning point, and she kept that note next to her bed for the entirety of her stay at Barrett. Slowly, day by day, as she got stronger, Claudia also worked on her housing plan with our team. In September of 2021, stronger and healthier, both mother and son had all of the supports in place to end their homelessness for good.
“It’s more than a shelter, it’s a community,” Claudia said.
