Success Stories

Ocie Hill, 19, hugs another resident of MERCY Communities Inc. on Monday while holding her 9-month-old daughter, Ocieann. Hill graduated from the transitional-living program at MERCY and will attend college to study interior design.

When classes start next month at the International Academy of Design and Technology in Chicago, one of the new students will be Ocie Hill. Studying interior design is the fulfillment of a dream for the 19-year-old Springfield resident. But without the help of MERCY Communities Inc., Hill might not be preparing to move and start a new life.

"(MERCY) helped me get my high school diploma, it helped me with tutors, it helped me become independent," said Hill, who moved here about a year ago and has a 9-month-old daughter, Ocieann.

Hill is one of two women who graduated Monday from MERCY Communities' transitional-living program, which provides housing and support services to women with children.

She was able to achieve her program goals in about six months, but most of the women living at the facility are on a two-year plan to become self-sufficient, according to executive director Mary Stone.

Women in the MERCY (Mentors, Empowerment and Resources for Change in Young Families) program must be highly motivated and willing to work. They attend life-skills classes where they learn about cooking or perhaps self-esteem, and they work one-on-one with a counselor who helps them set goals to become self-sufficient.

They also are expected to spend at least 20 hours a week working or going to classes.

"The program is about empowering and teaching skills. It is very structured," Stone said.

The MERCY House at 1111 S. 19th St. has 10 two-bedroom, furnished apartments.

While Hill had family members to stay with initially, some of the women at MERCY were homeless before arriving. Each woman's situation is different, Stone said, which is why they work one-on-one with the counselors.

Jill Hammonds, 33, the other woman to graduate from the program Monday, is in her second year. She has two children, ages 7 and 9, and was staying at the Haven House shelter before coming to MERCY House. She said she lost her apartment about four years ago after she ran up debts and got laid off.

"I spent more money than I was suppose to," Hammonds said. "... (The debt) got to the point where it took over."

Hammonds' program at MERCY involved taking budget classes and getting her debt under control. She now works in day care, is in the process of paying off her bills and should be debt-free by next year.

She will be moving from her MERCY apartment next week into a Springfield duplex.

Monday's graduation ceremony was at the 19th Street facility. There is no set schedule for the graduations, Stone said; they're held whenever someone completes the program.

Two other women will be moving into Hill and Hammonds' apartments when they leave.

MERCY accepts women who are 18 or older, with some exceptions. They can be pregnant and have up to three children younger than 12.

John Reynolds can be reached at 788-1524 or john.reynold@sj-r.com.

Appeared in State Journal Register, Springfield Illinois, 6/22/04

Touring the apartment of "MISS DAVIS" recently, VICKY MOORE pointed out to another visitor the brand-new washer and dryer, the kitchen, two bedrooms, bathroom and living room.

"It's a great apartment," said Moore, clinical program director and volunteer coordinator for MERCY COMMUNITIES, which provides housing and supportive services to homeless and at-risk families.

The 27-year old client, who prefers to be called Miss Davis, is the first mother to have moved into permanent housing through a new program established by MERCY that serves disabled mothers and their children.

Davis, who has gone through treatment for drug and alcohol abuse, moved this month into her home that she will share with her two sons, ages 8 and 12. Without the opportunity through MERCY, Davis would be struggling, she said.

"I would have been struggling trying to pay my bills. I couldn't save nothing," said Davis, who grew up in Arkansas and has been in Springfield eight years.

"(With) this program I can save. I can put back something and save and still buy my kids what they need. I'm hoping to save enough so after I leave here I can buy me a home."

MERCY has helped several homeless and at-risk women and their children with housing through its transitional housing facility at 1111 S. 19th St.

The new permanent housing program is made possible through the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development, which provided a three-year grant of more than $200,000 that will help secure eight housing units for disabled mothers and their children.

The disabilities can be mental, physical, developmental, substance abuse, AIDS or HIV.

"The goal of the transitional living program is to provide the resources that Mom needs in order to become self-sufficient in a home Of her own," said MARY STONE, executive director of MERCY

"What we've discovered in our five years of providing this pro¬ gram is that some moms are not able to achieve that ultimate goal of self-sufficiency for a variety of reasons. They still need supports in their lives in order to keep that family intact and in order not to become homeless again."

The new program allows women and their children to move into more secure housing and still receive support services.

"They'll receive the same type of services we have at the transitional (facility) — the case management and the life skills classes and the employment (program)," Moore said.

"Also, if they haven't finished their education, for instance, if they haven't gotten their (general equivalency diploma) yet, that's the first thing we'd encourage for them to get."

Davis will take classes to complete her GED. She works full time at Quality Inn, where she recently was promoted.

She's moving forward after not having a place of her own for three to four years.

"I stayed in treatment for like five months. I moved into a transitional house, which was Haven House (sponsored by Abundant Faith Christian Center). I was, there a year," Davis said.

"When it came time to transition out, I was, like, looking at places, and everything I looked at was like $450, $500.

"I couldn't pay that kind of money and still buy clothes and stuff. I didn't know what was going to happen."

MERCY is working with a land¬ lord to lease units for the program. Families will then sublease the units from MERCY, which furnishes them. Donations of household items and furniture are needed.

"Today, we're hearing a lot and we're experiencing all the devastation of Hurricane Katrina and what that means in terms of all these families that are homeless and have nothing," Stone said.

"As I listen to it, I think, 'That's what MERCY is doing on a day-to- day basis. We're helping families, not because of some catastrophic event like the hurricane, but because of their own personal crises.'"

For more information or to help with furnishings, call 753-1358.

Tamara Browning con be reached at 788-1534 or at
tamara.browning@sj-r.com.

Appeared in State Journal Register, Springfield Illinois, 9/17/05