Housing Hope has made it a priority to provide assistance to families not served by other housing agencies in Snohomish County. One of these special needs group is families headed by a single father.

Dave, a recent client of Housing Hope, is a single father with three young children. The mother is the custodial parent but she abandoned the children at a day care for four days. Dave was called in to retrieve the children. The mother has since decided she does not want to continue raising the children.

Dave was unable to keep the children where he was living and without any other option the family moved into a Housing Hope emergency shelter unit. Ironically, Dave was employed but did not make enough money to pay for housing, day care and medical insurance. Additionally, he needed an attorney to petition for a change of custody and child support for his three children.

A Housing Hope case manager helped Dave obtain food and day care assistance. He was also given referrals for low-cost legal assistance. However, none of his needs could be completely resolved during the 30-day emergency shelter stay. Fortunately, the family was placed in Housing Hope transitional housing. Dave got the time he needed to stabilize his family and save money so that they could move into permanent housing.