The holiday season is upon us! With Thanksgiving coming up this week and the December holidays just around the corner, we’re here to remind you that your table centerpieces don’t need to break the bank. Whether you’re looking for something fun and funky, classy and elegant, or something that just gets the job done, VOA Thrift locations are stocked with options for your holiday needs.
Formerly homeless veterans with Volunteers of America Ohio & Indiana received an incredible Veterans Day surprise from The Home Depot Foundation on Thursday, November 11.
As a child, Derrel had to grow up fast. He was the middle of three sons in a single-parent household but bore much of the responsibility for the family because his older brother was severely disabled. He was charged with being the primary caregiver much of the time while his mother worked to provide for the boys.
Teresa was stable for her whole life, until she wasn’t. She was happily married and both she and her husband worked, having no trouble paying the rent. But then, her husband of twenty-nine years was diagnosed with cancer and things started to quickly spiral out of control. The prognosis was not good.
Philip was a young father. At 22, he and his girlfriend had a son. They hadn’t been together long and the stress of having a child was a major strain on their relationship. Although they parted ways soon after the child was born, Philip was determined to be a part of his son’s life.
I am the youngest of 5 boys. I grew up in a small town in Ohio, about 5,000 people small. When you grow up in a small town, there isn’t much to do. Everyone drank for fun, so I did. I started when I was 14. I was good at drinking and the life of the party. By 17, I was a full-blown alcoholic and dabbling in drugs.
As the second oldest in her family, Maria has always taken on the role of caregiver. She never shied away from hard work. Her life hasn’t been without its hardships. Throughout her childhood, her mother battled a substance use disorder. At the age of 12, Maria was put into foster care, where she remained until she aged out at 18.
For 21-year-old Cierra, “one more time” had become her mantra. Just one more, it won’t hurt anything, she would think to herself. I will stop after this hit she told herself over and over again. It was not until she had her daughter that she turned “one last time” into “taking it one day at a time”.
Two years ago, Darla and her two boys Ivan, age 8, and Braiden, age 13, were alone in a motel room, hungry and scared, with nowhere to go. Losing her 7-year partner to illness left them defenseless. With no other options, Darla took her children to a homeless shelter.
After opening the Fresh Start Recovery Center, an addition recovery center for pregnant women and new mothers, a little more than a year ago in Columbus, IN, Volunteers of America Ohio & Indiana announced that they have served more than 100 women and their children from in and around Bartholomew County.