“What brought you to Love?”
“We were hungry.”
When Jillian thinks back to her experience in Life Skills more than 8 years ago, she thinks back to a time that felt hopeless.
“I was in an extremely abusive relationship with someone who took all the money, wouldn’t let me work or leave the house. Someone who spent any extra money on drugs or alcohol.”
An aunt told her about Love’s Life Skills Program, so Jillian called.
“I sold the program to him as something we could join that would benefit him- free food and clothes. When you deal with an abuser, you have to convince them it’s good for them. When in reality, I joined the program to keep us alive.”
At the same time she began attending weekly, she had her daughter’s dad seeking full custody. With her middle school aged daughter not wanting to go live with her dad, it became another battle to face each day.
“CPS showed up one day after I picked up my first food order from Love’s food pantry. The chief complaint was that I had no food in my house. In my head I’m just crying and thanking God that this worked out the way it did. Because if it wouldn’t have, I would have lost my kids.”
Jillian and her older son and daughter had food in their home because of the Life Skills Program.
While in the program, Jillian gave birth to her third child without the support of her partner. She remembers arriving home and asking her mom to keep her older son and daughter because their home was not safe. Sleeping on a mattress in the living room, Jillian tried to protect her newborn. “He never left my sight. Never left my arms, ever.” At two weeks old, she made a deal with her partner to finally get him to leave, promising to never ask him for anything in the future.
When he finally left, Jillian was left with 7 months of unpaid rent and an eviction notice.
From there, she moved into one of the two bedrooms in a family member’s small apartment. Slowly over time she took steps forward. She got a job. She got a car. Fast forward a couple years later, she became the sole provider for that same family member who was severed from their job.
Today, Jillian has a job she loves and a safe home of her own with her three much older kids.
Because of Love’s program, Jillian had a lifeline when she needed it most.
When we ask her how she got to where she is today, she shares, “I did it all for my kids. They deserved better than that. They deserve to feel safe. To have a stable roof over their heads and no stress over if we have food on the table or not. I just wanted to give them a place where they can have peace, rest their minds and bodies and know they are safe.”
It’s been 8 years since Jillian has been part of Life Skills, and last year she came back as a volunteer, helping in childcare at the same Life Skills Program that helped her family while they were in survival mode.
Currently, she is volunteering as a peer support for another single mom in the Life Skills Program.
We are grateful to be a part of Jillian’s story.
Learn more about the Life Skills Program here.
We’ll be sharing 40 stories of transformation leading up to our 40th Celebration Block Party on September 24th. Please join us!