Debra's Story
Debra's husband, three years ago, went to the store and never came back.
Debra was a stay at home mom of three kids at the time– a five year old girl, seven year old boy, and ten year old boy. She had no job and no savings in the bank and her health was slowly deteriorating due to obesity. At the time, she weighed 425 pounds.
In the year that followed, Debra’s house went into foreclosure and she sank into depression as she realized she was going to lose her home. When Debra and her children were one week from becoming homeless, they met Laurel Miller, Elim’s Program Director. Debra did an intake and moved into transitional housing. With the help of case management support from Elim and strong perseverance from Debra, she began to make major changes in her life.
First, Debra tackled her morbid obesity. After significant counseling and medical attention, Debra underwent gastric bypass and lost over 200 pounds. Next, Debra got a job as an Administrative Assistant at a nonprofit agency that provides services to people with autism.
When asked how Elim helped her accomplish such major goals in the past two years, Debra said,
“Being in Elim housing has helped me even out the highs and lows and keep me on track. The financial support has helped keep me and my kids maintain a stable place.”
Debra’s words of wisdom for people facing challenges similar to her own,” Keep your head up and keep struggling with whatever you are going after. Sometimes things feel like they won’t work out, but if you try anyway, they usually do.”