Elaine was only a baby when her mother left her to be raised by her grandmother. There she happily stayed with her "Nanna" until one life-altering day in the fourth grade when her mother came back for her. Elaine packed her few belongings and drove off with her mother, who was a complete stranger to her.

For the next few months Elaine lived with her mother in a small apartment, wishing everyday she could go back to her Nanna's house and the secure life she left behind. She didn't know how to reach Nanna and would have walked there on her own, had she known the way.

Soon, Elaine's mother couldn't keep up with playing mom. She left her again, this time at a scary place - her father's house. Feeling unwanted and alone, she had to learn for the second time how to live with a stranger who didn't seem to care about her. It was a hard life for her. He wasn't a picture perfect dad - he swore, he smoked, and he drank. Elaine tried her best to keep in her room, away from him.

By age 15, Elaine was acting out and hanging with the wrong crowd, drinking and doing drugs. It was one way to numb the pain of being shuffled from one place to another. It's a terrible thing not to be wanted or cared for. No one was showing her the right way to live. She even did drugs and drank right along side her own father. At about this time she left his house, never to return.

Completely unprepared for life on her own, Elaine fell headlong into the drug-using lifestyle. Living with strangers, sleeping on people's couches, it didn't seem all that different than what she had known already. During the next few years she was arrested, sent to rehabilitation, did odd jobs, yet nothing seemed to lead anywhere until a young man showed some interest. She thought it was true love, but before she knew it she was pregnant, homeless and alone.

With no idea what to do, Elaine called her father for help. He knew he wasn't in a position to really help her, but he did some research and found Heritage Home. He picked her up off the streets and drove her straight to our front door.

Frightened and tired, her life in shambles, Elaine did not know when she crossed the threshold into Heritage Home that she was about to enter a new world full of love and hope for her and her unborn baby.
But, day by day, the staff and volunteers showed her the way. They stood by her during the many rough times and encouraged her. Elaine had never experienced this kind of genuine help and love before. She never even had her own bed before!

CityTeam Heritage Home has become her new family that she can trust and count on. On August 18th, Elaine gave birth to a beautiful healthy baby boy, and has brought him home to her new Heritage Home family. Elaine is now working hard on her GED, a driver's license, and most of all on being a good mother. It's a true blessing to see this young 19-year-old turn her life completely around and dedicate it to her God and her baby.

Elaine feels strongly about supporting Heritage Home anyway she can. She offers to give her testimony in churches, places fundraising baby bottles at strategic locations, and has learned that being part of a family means contributing your strengths to the whole. She is extending that value to her new church family as well, bringing other young women to Alpha dinners and retreats. And, she is hoping for reconciliation and healing in her own family, too. Elaine says:

"I realize that my baby's father isn't going to save me or anyone else in my family. I have to make a better life for my son. Heritage Home is providing me a safe place to stay while I get on my feet and receive the tools necessary for me to be a good mom. I suffered a lot in my life and I don't want my son to grow up like I did. I am going to make it! After I get my GED, I am going to try to go to school " said Elaine.

"I want to thank all the donors who financially support CityTeam Heritage Home. I don't know where I would be if it wasn't for this home. For the first time in my life I am happy with who I am. I don't have to worry about what's wrong with me," said Elaine.

"I also have a church family that loves and cares for me. I even get hugs at church - I know it's a small thing but it means a lot to me. God has a place in my heart and He is watching over my son and I.

Thankfully, hope is restored for Elaine. Elaine would like to wish all the donors, staff and volunteers a warm holiday and a big THANK YOU. She would also like to give everyone a big hug right back for all the help she has received!

*The names have been changed to protect the individual's privacy.