Audrea's story: an update on a former resident

Audrea's story is inspiring. She is a single mom of two, works part-time, is a student at Skagit Valley College, participates in multiple clubs at school, and is active in her church. Two years ago, she was homeless.

Chances are, you’ve seen Audrea’s face before. You may remember seeing her feature in our February 2013 newsletter, or you may have heard her sharing her story at your local church or service group. For years, Audrea had struggled with drug abuse, but began to take steps towards healing and wholeness. She was already on that journey when she arrived at Friendship House in the summer of 2012. Friendship House provided a safe place for her to continue in her recovery and begin making steps towards a better life.

At Friendship House, one of our primary goals is self-sufficiency. We want each of our residents to be able to make an income to stand on their own two feet. But it doesn't stop there. Our hope is that once our former residents become self-sufficient, they begin to flourish.

That is Audrea’s story. She is currently in the Human Services Program at Skagit Valley College and for the past several months, has been serving as the Friendship House Intern. She works directly with the Women’s House Manager Brenda and has completed several projects that benefit our residents.

New residents are often overwhelmed by the services available to them, so Audrea created a guide with concise, simple descriptions of all the services in Skagit County and how to best utilize them. She also created a map that was extremely helpful for residents trying to get from one place to the next.

Audrea began teaching a budget mentoring class for our residents based on the one she took at LOVE, Inc. Each week, she meets with residents to go over topics like making a budget, living within your means, and banking basics. The class teaches invaluable lessons to our residents.

Audrea will graduate from Skagit Valley College in 2015. After that, she plans to attend Trinity Western University’s Bellingham Extension to get her BA in Leadership. She is an excellent candidate for that program, having shown the staff of Friendship House how capable she is. We believe Audrea will continue to accomplish great things!

Audrea is the embodiment of transformation, showing that it is possible to move beyond a difficult past to a flourishing future.