Hawthorn Hill, Keeping Families Together

Kati's Story

Kati is a mother of four children; Calen 6, Conner 5, Parker 3, and Layla 1. She was raised by her grandparents and didn't have a relationship with her parents because of their habitual drug use. At the age of 17 she received her GED and moved out on her own working full time and taking classes at DMACC.

Kati's homelessness began in earlier this year after her grandma passed away. Her grandma helped pay her bills and when she died, Kati was evicted from her home. Kati did not have stable housing and moved from house to house and in October was accepted into the Home Connection Program.

Since Kati has been in The Home Connection program, she has been working hard towards financial independence. She has been tracking her expenses and it has prompted her to make some changes in her spending. ... Read More

Alexandra's Story

Alexandra is a mother of 2 children, Alexxia who is 4, and Adonis who is 1 year old. Alexandra grew up in foster care because her biological mother was unable to care for her due to severe mental health issues. Her foster mom, unfortunately , also had mental health issues and mistreated Alexandra and her siblings. Alexandra became homeless for the first time at the age of 16 when she left her foster mother's home because she would no longer take the mistreatment and abuse. Alexandra lived from house to house with various friends for several years before obtaining her own housing when her daughter Alexxia was born. Alexandra wanted to improve the quality of life for herself and her children, so she decided to relocate from Chicago to Des Moines. When she initially moved here, the only support Alexandra had was her cousin, and she could not stay with her because there was not enough room. Alexandra came to Hawthorn Hill's New  Directions Shelter program so she could work on becoming independent and stand on her own two feet... Read More

Christine's Story

Christine found herself wondering what her future was going to be while sitting in jail in Waterloo. She had been arrested for drugs and her life was going nowhere . Christine had been using meth since her father introduced her to the drug when she was 12 years old. She now was a young adult with two small children to take care of and realized she had to do something soon to be the mother her children needed. She knew if she continued the path she was currently on, she would lose custody of her children.

It was while in jail that Christine made the decision to leave Waterloo and all the bad influences she was associated with there. She found out about House of Mercy in Des Moines. She was accepted into their substance abuse program and immediately moved to Des Moines to reside at House of Mercy.  When she and her two children arrived, she had an open case with DHS and was on probation... Read More