$15,800

I recently got to talk with a CASA renter who had lived in her car for two years in a Walmart parking lot.  Jeanette is a veteran and still has the U.S. Army Code of Conduct from her first day in the service in 1986.  She told me that she had tried to work after she returned home from serving abroad, but she struggled and eventually lost her job, her home, and most of her things.  While living in her car, Jeanette met a deaf woman who lives in a CASA apartment and noticed her CASA keychain.  She called CASA, applied for an apartment, and now lives in a safe, affordable, permanent home close to the VA clinic where she receives care.  Jeanette pays 30% of her disability income on rent and has a quiet space to heal and live peacefully.  She lives in a community of other formerly homeless veterans.  I asked Jeanette the best part of having her own place, and she said "just to be safe."  


Another CASA renter told me about how much her life has changed since she moved into her apartment four years ago.  Marcine had gotten out of a dangerous relationship and a bad living situation but didn't have anywhere to go.  She lived in a tent for two weeks until a storm washed it away.  She tried to go to a homeless shelter with beds for women, but women with children always got priority, "and I got left out."  She slept in Chavis Park.  She finally got a voucher and a list of resources, where she found CASA.  Now, she says, her mind is at ease because she has a place to rest and recover.  She eats three meals a day and makes all of her appointments with doctors and social workers who keep her well.  I asked her the best thing about her apartment, and she said, “Just that I have one. It makes me feel self-sufficient, makes me go out and enjoy life.  I’ve realized there’s so much to live for."  


I'm racing in April for Jeanette and Marcine and for all the others we haven't reached yet.  I hope you'll sponsor my page with a gift to CASA.  Thank you!!