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Camillus House News
Alone, Sinking... But Determined to Make it
March 30, 2009
By Veronica Montali
Katherine and Amber are looking forward to a bright future together.
Driven single mother finds a place to call home
Having a large extended family is commonplace for most Hispanics. Weekends spent together at gatherings, weekdays sharing chores and finding support when needed; son or daughter, niece or nephew alike.
Twenty-eight year old Katherine Cedeño grew up in a family like this, in Panama. She dreamed of one day having a family of her own, but when she moved to Miami in her late teens to finish high school she embarked on an unintended journey. It took her away from family and closer to despair.
In what seemed like a blink, she was alone, caring for a child and with no family around her to help. But Katherine’s story didn’t end in despair. Homeless at an emergency shelter, she found friendship and the assistance of Camillus House.
To understand her story, you have to go back to Panama. Katherine’s father worked at the Panama Canal operation, which allowed for her to attend, free of charge, the American high school there for U.S. families. During those years, she became proficient in English, a skill that would prove very useful years later, when times got tough.
But money was tight. So her mother left for the U.S. while Katherine was still in her teens and sent for her later so that she could finish high school in Miami. Going from a small private school setting into a big high school was tough, she recalls. She finished at 17 and decided to follow her dream of becoming a nurse.
“I was not mature yet and very inexperienced,” says the soft-spoken Katherine recalling days and nights of partying while trying to complete her nursing degree and working full-time as a retail clerk. “In the back of my mind, I always thought my family would be there for me,” she sighs.
Katherine was 22 and slowly making progress towards her dream when she met her daughter’s father in 2002. They dated for two years and in 2004, Amber was born. All along her family had disapproved of her boyfriend and they became estranged. Her mother moved back to Panama without having met her granddaughter.
Unable to hold a job that would allow paying for childcare, Katherine moved in with her boyfriend’s family. But as Amber celebrated her second birthday in June of ’06, her boyfriend left her and his family kicked her out.
“I just took Amber and left in our car to an aunt’s house in Homestead where I stayed for two months feeling very uncomfortable.” She kept going to school at night while working during the day. Meanwhile, Amber stayed at the house with other small children also in the family’s care.
In April ’07, Katherine graduated as a Medical Assistant, raising her hopes to turn her life around. But as she came home each night to share a room with her daughter, she felt out of place and unwelcome. She wanted to find a better life, but
didn’t know how.
“I was very frustrated. I didn’t like Amber being around these other kids without a caring adult watching out for her. I had to leave. So I went to a shelter to see if they had space.” Katherine entered the Homeless Assistance Center (HACII) in September of ’07. “It was scary to share a big room with a lot of families. I feared for Amber’s safety so I stopped working to try and figure things out.”
Little did she know that, in those two months at the shelter, she would befriend the two people who would help her turn her life around. Having extra time allowed Katherine to focus on finding a place to move when her 60 days at the shelter were up. She was “pretty insistent” on making a better future, recalls Darrell McMillan, who was assigned as her case manager.
A Miami born and raised emergency services veteran who was also looking for a career move, Darrell worked hard to find Katherine and her daughter a home.
She also found time to make friends. Katherine met Marie, a smart and energetic Haitian-born single mother of one who, just like Katharine, had found herself homeless. They also shared a well-mannered, vivacious disposition and the ability to speak two languages perfectly. Marie had a job at a bilingual call center in Coral Gables and was getting ready to leave the shelter. She recommended Katherine for an opening, immediately establishing a “buddy-system” between the two women.
Finding affordable childcare, a long commute from Homestead to Coral Gables and abandoning her dream of becoming a nurse did not deter Katherine from showing up to her interview with a good attitude. Her perfect command of Spanish and English and her inherent, strong will to succeed took over. She got the job as a telephone customer service agent.
Once fully employed, Katherine had access to permanent supportive housing thanks to Darrell, who by then had also found a new job at Camillus House, as case manager at Br. Mathias Place.
“I knew Katherine, her will power and drive,” Darrell says. “She just needed a job to have access to an apartment at Camillus’ Brother Mathias Place. And she got one, so I found myself welcoming an ‘old friend’ to her own apartment.”
As of January 2008, Katherine and Amber reside in one of 10 apartments at Brother Mathias Place, which is a Camillus permanent housing program located in the Courtyards Apartment complex in Homestead, where Camillus leases 10 units among the other market-rate apartments. The complex is clean, with a large green central area where many small children of immigrant renters can play.
In May ’08 Katherine sent her mom a Mother’s Day flower bouquet and took Amber to meet her grandparents who are now back in Miami. Amber’s father is not sending her child support, but Katherine feels confident and comfortable and looking forward to Amber starting Kindergarten in a neighboring “A” school. Both sit smiling in the well appointed living room as Katherine comments on how well things unfolded.
“I feel safe at Br. Mathias Place and am very grateful to have my own space now. I feel 90% accomplished. My friend Marie and I have plans of building something together,” she says explaining that her transition to independent living is the next step to take soon. “And finding love as well, she adds, if that is meant to be.”
