Elsa

Elsa

Elsa is a survivor of domestic violence. She married a man who abused her. She thought the abuse would stop after the birth of their son, but it didn’t. One day in March 2018, after a confrontation with her husband that left her with significant injuries, she scooped her 3-month-old son into her arms and left her marriage and her home. Elsa went straight to a local hospital to get treated for her injuries and then, she and her son moved into a shelter.

The shelter referred Elsa to Catholic Charities of Dallas (CCD) where she received help from its immigration services department and its financial stability and career services program. This marked the start to a new beginning for Elsa, but the path to that new beginning included several hurdles she would need to clear. In addition to needing to find a new home for her and her son, Elsa was facing a $19,000 medical debt from the hospital care she received after leaving her husband. Elsa also does not speak English, which made navigating life’s landscape without a support system difficult.

At CCD, Elsa worked with a financial coach who helped her create a plan to become independent. She shared with the coach that their interaction marked the first time she was explained anything about finances, because her husband didn’t permit her to handle money matters. She also shared that she wanted to know more about resources for her education.

The coach and Elsa first focused on finding a solution for the medical debt. Elsa provided the coach with the bills she was receiving from the hospital. On the bills, there was a paragraph about available financial assistance. The coach worked with Elsa to apply for the assistance by facilitating a phone call to request a financial assistance application and translating the language on the application so that Elsa could complete it. A few weeks after submitting the application, Elsa learned she was awarded 100 percent of assistance because her household income and size was at or below 200 percent of the federal poverty limit.

The next challenge to solve was Elsa and her son’s living situation. Since Elsa’s circumstances were the result of a domestic violence matter, the shelter facilitated her transition into one-room apartment in a community with free childcare. In addition, the shelter provided up to 18 months of no rent or bills for Elsa and her son. Once Elsa was in her new apartment, she was able to leave her son in the free daycare while she attended English classes once a week at another nonprofit agency.

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Elsa

Cindy

When “Cindy” came to The Women’s Center, she was working full-time at a local convenience store. Cindy was pregnant, and wasn’t able to afford career training that would support herself and her child. Through participation in The Women’s Center WFS program, Cindy began training as an Opthalmic Assistant Program through Tarrant Community College, and has received employment and financial coaching that has supported her in meeting goals such as paying off credit cards and increasing her credit score from 667 to 728. Cindy has been able to get a loan for a car, and plans to participate in a home buying program within the next year.

Eric

Eric was a successful electrician. But his career came to a halt when a serious car wreck left him injured and out of a job. He turned to Metrocrest Services, whose mission is to help people in crisis get back on their feet and sustain their independence. There he got financial coaching and employment counseling. That led to his acceptance into Per Scholas, a local nonprofit IT training program. Finishing near the top of his class, Eric landed a job immediately after his certification. Now he works with Microsoft and continues to work with his coach at Metrocrest to build his financial future.

Jennifer

When Jennifer’s three-year relationship with the father of her five-year-old daughter became abusive in 2016, she and her daughter moved out of the apartment the three shared and into the home of a friend temporarily. Jennifer’s goal was to find a new residence for her and her daughter, but that proved challenging because the 28-year-old preschool teacher earned $12 an hour and had broken her apartment lease when she and her daughter moved. As a result, she was unable to qualify to lease a new apartment. After struggling through her situation for two years, she was referred to Interfaith Family Services in January 2018.

Jonathon

Jonathon was in a tough situation when he enrolled in The Women’s Center of Tarrant County’s integrated services partnership program with Family Pathfinders of Tarrant County in October 2015. He was unemployed, his credit history was thin and he had neither a checking nor savings account at a bank. When he enrolled in the program, Jonathon said he wanted to get a job with higher pay than his previous employment and improve his credit score. To build a plan toward these goals, Jonathon worked with a Pathfinders financial coach through the partnership’s career development “fast track” workshops and entered skills training for information technology (IT) security.