Odelia and Vance* had been living in their rental home three years when they discovered their landlord didn’t have a tenant occupancy license. With little notice, they learned they would lose their home.
Legal aid enabled them to stay another 3 months while they searched for another apartment. Between application fees and hard inquiries on their credit that ultimately lowered their credit score, the process was tough.
“We probably did 25 to 30 applications,” Odelia said. “We just kept getting the door slammed in our face.”
Doubled up living with her sister, Odelia was then in a car accident that left her unable to continue in dental school.
“I was about to come up on my externship,” she said. “I had already pushed school off. I needed a stable home so I could focus on graduating.”
A family member heard about Miss Bobbi’s Place, a transitional housing program that provides services designed to support the needs of the family who are experiencing homelessness. Since 2022, Community Progress Council has partnered with Miss Bobbi’s Place to provide coaching and wrap-around services for families in the program.
The program, Vance says, was exactly what they needed. “It gives you time to put your life back in order,” he said.
Odelia and Vance came in with goals: For Odelia to graduate dental school, and for Vance to work toward his high school diploma. They both wanted to repair their credit, and dreamed ultimately of owning their own home.
“Credit is probably the biggest barrier,” Vance said. “It takes so long. You can take 3 steps forward and one negative hit drops you down.”
Through their Coach, Odelia and Vance connected with CPC’s Pathway to Homeownership classes, the first of which focuses on creating a budget, repairing credit, and building savings to prepare for the homebuying process.
Odelia completed her dental program but quickly hit the ceiling for hourly pay as a dental assistant. She started in a new role last fall as a paraprofessional working with students with disabilities, which better matches the school schedule for their children, 12 and 4.
After “bouncing around a bit with employment,” Vance is working toward his GED through Penn Foster and is now making $7/hour more than last summer — pay that enables their family to better afford the things they’re striving toward.
“The partnership between the Community Progress Council and Miss Bobbi’s Place creates transformative opportunities for families,” said Zac King, President of the Board of Directors for Miss Bobbi’s Place.
“When families face homelessness, they are often overwhelmed by immediate needs, including housing, employment, childcare, and access to basic necessities,” Zac said. “CPC steps in to bridge these gaps by offering programs that promote long-term stability, empowering families to rebuild their lives. Long term, this partnership helps break cycles of poverty, ensuring that children have better opportunities for growth and success.”
Odelia and Vance agree they’re proud of not giving up on everything.
“It has been a long and stressful process,” Vance said. “I’m proud that I’m in a place now where I can actually financially provide for my family, with a little bit more stability.”
Stable housing, for their family, would relieve some additional stress.
They continue to stay motivated, for themselves and for their children.
“We’re trying to teach them the knowledge that we didn’t have, going into these situations,” Vance said. “I can pass it on to my younger ones, that way they don’t hit the same roadblocks.”
Their Coach at Community Progress Council, Adriana, and the team at Miss Bobbi’s Place credit the family’s success to their hard work and motivation.
“She’s not expecting that we give the solution,” said Adriana. “I come in and she says, ‘OK, I have this plan, and we will do this and this and this.’ They are a strong family [and] they support each other.”
Zac echoes this.
“From participating in skill-building workshops to actively engaging with financial and housing counseling, they have shown a strong desire to create a stable and secure future,” Zac said. “Odelia and Vance are truly an example of how hard work and the right resources can lead to life-changing results.”
They celebrated in January with their next step: Transitioning out of Miss Bobbi’s Place housing and into an apartment to call their own.
And they’re not ready to rest quite yet, either. Odelia says her number one goal now is to be able to own their own home, and Vance is looking to pursue a degree once he completes his GED in June.
“Don’t give up,” Odelia said. “Even when you have roadblocks. Everyone’s going to have some kind of roadblock that’s going to stop you from doing something right away.”
“Don’t give up. Keep moving.”
* Names have been changed.