Homeless With Children

Economy Single Mother Two single mothers share their stories of defying the odds through the help of a national non profit.

by Diana Lucio

Published: Thu, July 02, 2009 - 8:33 pm CST Last Updated: Thu, July 02, 2009 - 9:44 pm CST

They lead two different lives. Marie Milne works as a waitress at Magnolia Blossom Café. Pamela Davis is in the beauty business at Nail Decor and Spa.
But they have a lot in common. Both are single mothers who hit rock bottom before going homeless.

"As a single parent I just couldn't afford to pay rent or pay bills and I just took on a total loss because of that,"Said Davis.
Marie had to quit her job to care for her sick mother.
"I had a nervous break down you know through all this you just never expect things to happen like that,"Said Milne.

Determined to turn their lives around the two got help from Family Promise, a national organization that takes in homeless families.
"It's the normal family that has children under the age of 18. They're employable because there's no way you could become self sufficient unless one of the adults in the family are employable to get back on their feet,"Said Mike Browkowsky who helped bring the program to Baldwin County a year and a half ago.

With the help of donations and volunteers 18 host churches across Baldwin County give the families food, shelter and transportation.
"I said a shelter? It was something new to me and so I put my best foot forward and I said ok I'm going to go out and I'm going to do this,"Said Davis, who is well on her way after just 7 weeks. Milne got her life back in 3 months.
"Within 3 weeks I had a job and I knew that my child was safe. We'd stay in a different church each we had home cooked meals,"Said Milne.

With more families asking for help, Family Promise needs more donations and volunteers. A sausage cook off will be held July 12th to raise money.
It's from 3 pm to 6pm at Oak Hollow Farms in Fairhope. For more details on Family Promise click here.

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