This column relates accounts of family engagement by Together with Families, a nonprofit working to keep families together while avoiding child welfare involvement. The names of parents and children have been changed.
Monique was out of options. On Sept. 5, 2024, a school social worker referred the 27-year-old single mother from Cobb County, Georgia, to Together with Families as she faced homelessness while raising her 8-year-old daughter, Nia.
With Nia’s father incarcerated, Monique struggled alone while experiencing homelessness. As they couch-surfed and moved between temporary accommodations, her daughter’s grades plummeted, and Monique’s mental health declined. Concerned about their instability, poverty and lack of permanent housing, the school warned Monique that they would contact Child Protective Services (CPS) if her situation didn’t improve. Despite doing her best to care for Nia, Monique faced the devastating possibility of losing custody — not because of neglect, but due to homelessness and the instability that came with it.
Monique’s past mirrored her present. She spent years living in hotels with her mother and five siblings. Growing up, she experienced CPS involvement but never received the support needed to break the cycle of poverty. For families like hers, CPS investigations are rarely about abuse, but often the driver is economic hardship. Yet parents who struggle financially often find themselves surveilled rather than assisted.
The immediate priority for Monique was food and shelter. Our navigator brought her food and arranged transportation to a hotel and covered a week’s stay, buying time to secure stable housing. The next morning, Monique met with one of our coaches to establish goals focused on long-term stability. When the week was up, we connected her to a short-term housing program at a partner church. Weekly coaching sessions helped her apply for permanent housing and job opportunities and learn valuable life skills while navigating stress and mental health challenges.
Employment was the next hurdle. With guidance, Monique built a resume and secured a day care job. Transportation remained a challenge, so we provided Uber rides to the nearest bus line, ensuring she could work and pick up her daughter from school. Each day, she left home at 6 a.m. and returned at 11 p.m., navigating multiple buses, walking and using rideshares.
Monique started attending our monthly family cafés, hosted and planned by our fellows — parents who had been through our program themselves. We covered her transportation costs to ensure she could be there. At the cafés, she received tangible support for her family, including cleaning supplies, hygiene products, clothing and shoes.
At these events, Monique built relationships with families in the program as well as those who had completed it and returned as fellows. These connections quickly became more than acquaintances. They became friends — people she could lean on, who checked in on her, who understood her struggles because they had lived them too. More than anything, Monique found a sense of community, something she had never had before. That support gave her hope.
A month later, Monique’s day care job cut her hours, triggering severe anxiety. Anxiety and panic attacks had been a challenge for her for years, making daily life even more difficult. Overwhelmed, she called one of our fellows for support — someone who had been in her shoes and could talk her through the moment. Her coach also provided coping strategies and helped her secure a higher-paying position at Walmart, but the challenges didn’t stop. She suffered frequent panic attacks. Every time she overcame one obstacle, another took its place.
Even with stable employment, transportation remained a major barrier. Without a car, she relied on costly rideshares and long bus commutes — manageable for a short time but overwhelming with a young child in school and no family support. The daily struggle wore her down, making it hard to believe she could ever build a stable life. She had never had her own apartment as an adult. That kind of security felt impossible.
Through our partnership with Christian Brothers Automotive, Monique received a used car, giving her the reliable transportation she desperately needed. We covered her first month’s insurance and helped her budget for ownership costs, breaking the cycle of setbacks that had held her back for so long. With this support, she regained not just her independence but the confidence to keep going.
Two months after being referred to us, Monique signed the lease on her first apartment. We covered her security deposit and partnered with another organization to furnish her new home.
Life isn’t perfect, but for the first time, Monique has stability and a supportive community. She has full-time employment, safe housing and reliable transportation to get to work while staying engaged in her daughter’s life. Her mental health is improving — panic attacks are less frequent, and when they do come, she has people to turn to. And her daughter, Nia, has gone from barely passing to earning A’s and B’s.
Monique once thought stability was for others. Now, she knows it’s possible for her too. She’s determined to become a fellow and help another family find the same hope and opportunity. Because community and support keep families together — and that changes everything.
