This month we spoke with Alesha - a Housing Choice Voucher holder who recently moved into her own place in La Pine. Alesha has lived in Central Oregon for almost 17 years and is a mom of two. In her free time, she loves to sing, dance, and spend time with her kids.
Alesha first started working with Thrive in January of this year. Alesha was selected for a Housing Choice Voucher several years ago but was unable to find a place in the allotted time to actually use the voucher. Since then she spent most of her time living in mobile homes until she was selected for the Housing Choice Voucher again towards the end of last year. Alesha had worked really hard on her own to find housing that her voucher could work with, but she kept running into different barriers.
When Alesha received her voucher paperwork from Housing Works there was a flyer advertising Thrive. Alesha saw this as a sign and decided to reach out to see if Thrive could support her in her housing search. After calling Thrive’s main phone line, Alesha was quickly able to schedule an appointment with Rachel- who helped her address housing barriers and navigate the housing search.
After working with Rachel for just a few months, Alesha and her two children have moved into their own place in La Pine. Rachel supported Alesha from pre-move-in to post-move-in. Some of these services consisted of navigating different application barriers, appealing denials, and obtaining furniture. Alesha is so incredibly grateful to Rachel and Thrive as an organization for their support throughout her journey. Without Rachel and Thrive she feels that she would not be where she is today and appreciated how Rachel would always go out of her way to text and check-in. Working with Rachel made Alesha feel hopeful and more positive just knowing that someone cared and was there to support her. Now that she has stable housing she has been able to focus on other things and take care of herself and her children.
Some advice she has for people who might be in the same situation as her is to “take advantage of the help, help is out there if you want it and you just have to be willing to take advantage of it”. Before working with Thrive, she never thought that there were people who could help navigate housing and other systems. Now that she knows there is, it gives her hope. She really wants everyone to know that there is help out there and that you are not alone.
Thank you Alesha for sharing your story!