Maria Makes A Choice

Maria is easy to pick out of a crowd, with her loud purple hair and outgoing personality. She can often be found sporting a bright red “Giant” t-shirt while at Water Street. She’ll come straight from work to put in some extra hours volunteering at the Outreach Center, our food distribution center. Volunteering is a […]
Young Adults at Water Street

Imagine growing up without something you’d call home. You move around from place to place, sometimes staying with your family in an apartment or other times living out of an office or hotel. It becomes hard to form lasting relationships at school, and when you’re there, you’re an easy target for bullying. By the time […]
Building Confidence

Deb is a Life Coach who spends much of her time working with women in their transition out of Water Street. One of her goals is to make sure when guests leave, they leave with confidence again, in themselves and in their relationship with God. Since many of our guests have dealt with loss or […]
Jesselys Gives Her Heart to Jesus

He was nice and he was kind.” says Jesselys, describing Jesus. “He loves everyone.” This Spring, one of our Wonder Academy Students decided to give her heart to Christ. At just five years old, Jesselys told her teacher she was ready and went home to pray with her mother and father. “And then I went […]
Finding A Home Away From Home

At 13 years old, Genesis found herself at Teen Haven, tagging along with her older siblings. The people were friendly and inviting, but still, she says, “I didn’t want anything to do with Teen Haven.” Back then, Genesis was going through a transition in her life. While she was raised with a strong belief in […]
What Are Safe People?

When Deanna came back to Water Street, she sat back, watching everyone around her distrustfully. It was a massive step of faith to return to Water Street, knowing she had been a guest here before. Until then, life had taught her that maybe it’s better not to put your trust in people or even make […]
A Lifelong Learner

As Tamekia settles into her next art project, the words “Spread Your Wings and Fly” read across the page of her coloring book. She quickly chooses her colors and gets smoothly into the groove as she begins talking about her experiences at Water Street. These days, it’s becoming easier to keep positivity in her life. […]
A Gift From Sterling

It’s hard to imagine now, but Sterling came to Water Street shy and reserved. Due to his health, he was unable to work, but his friends wanted to make sure he was safe and brought him for an intake with Tjwana Reed, our Director of Access and Case Management. “I could tell he was so […]
From Fearful To Fulfilled

With a squirmy 10 month old in her arms, Beth came to the Access Center for the first time. The idea of spending the night in a shelter scared her, but when her Case Manager offered to carry her belongings to her room, she began to realize she would be ok. On the outside, Beth […]
From Crowd Follower to Water Street Leader

There was a time when Steve’s mom stayed up late each night, pacing in her bedroom and praying “Lord, please don’t take my son.” Little did she know all God was about to do in his life. His trials began when, as Steve puts it, he made bad choices to go into the streets of […]