With God, All Things Are Possible
Before life fell apart, Angela and her fiancé were doing everything “right.” They had a small place of their own, two bright-eyed kids and steady jobs. “Life was really stable,” she remembers. Then a family member needed a place to stay. What started as helping turned into bills going unpaid, tensions rising, and rent that […]
How Kim Overcame In Her Own Words
I was born in Tuva (Russia) and I didn’t know that I would come to the USA. In 2013, I had to flee from Russia to Thailand. I lived there for 10 years as an illegal refugee. After that, I was approved by USCIS under the UN Refugee Resettlement Program. I arrived in the USA […]
Fighting Cancer With Nowhere To Live
Dave was ready to give up. No home. No safe place to sleep. And now, a stage three throat cancer diagnosis. “It just felt like too much,” he says. “I was pretty much ready to pack it in and be done with it.” The streets offered no rest—just cold nights, stiff joints, and the constant […]
When Coming Back Was The Bravest Move
When Karen showed up at Water Street Mission the second time, she knew what some people would think — you failed the first time. In fact, her own children thought so. “They thought I was taking a step backwards,” she said. She understood why. The first time she came, she didn’t finish the program. “I […]
Refugees at Water Street Health Services
“Before the war we were living the retired life,” Volodymyr and Maria say. Going to museums and church, spending time in the garden. This was their life before the war in Ukraine broke out. Like many, they tried to survive in their war-torn home. But when a rocket suddenly came straight at their window, only […]
Thanks For Giving
“Good morning, do you need a shower today, and how about any laundry…do you have laundry that needs to be cleaned?” asked Marilyn O’Bryan, one of the volunteers who helps care for the basic needs of our homeless here at Water Street. As three homeless women stand around Marilyn with their bags of laundry, two women […]
On My Journey
Louisa was at the Community Homeless Outreach Center (CHOC) for about a week before it sunk in. “I had my own apartment for five months prior, and the realization that I don’t have a place to call my own anymore just put me into a slough of despond,” Louisa said as she looked back on what it was […]
The Path To Restoration
Growing up in Harlem was not easy for Patricia. A culture of poverty, drugs and alcohol did little to inspire a positive vision for the future. And while her parents did the best they could, they just didn’t know how to show love and affection. Instead, they would feed her treats or buy her things. […]
Restored To Be Restorers
Being born in Rwanda during a time of civil war made for a tough upbringing for John Rushemeza. He recalls that at 9 years old, when the conflicts broke out, there was a lot of killing and genocide and his family was forced to flee to Congo, eventually settling in Zambia. While he grew up […]
Restarting On A Better Track
This wasn’t how Emily had envisioned her life. She was stuck in a cycle of moving around with her boyfriend and longed for stability. She was preparing to find a place of her own and restart her life when she discovered she was pregnant. Emily found herself reliant on her boyfriend and his mom for […]