Katherine has been on a roller coaster ride for the last four years. Not having a permanent place to call home, she carried all of her possessions in bags, moving from a tent on the river to her father’s home when he would allow her to stay, sleeping in friends’ cars, couch surfing, and then moving to her boyfriend’s home when she discovered she was pregnant with her second son. She had given her first son up for adoption – she was only 15 when he was born.

After the birth of her second son, Ethan, Katherine’s boyfriend’s parent’s insisted that she and the baby stay with them, but things continued to be tenuous for Katherine. A fight with Ethan’s father began another downward spiral, as she moved out of the house, jumping from place to place and using drugs. Katherine admits” I was probably the worst mother in the world,” during this time.

After a month, Katherine made amends with her boyfriend and she and Ethan moved back into his parents’ home. Things began to turn around, Katherine was matched with a mentor and began really moving forward. Now Katherine is thriving. In February of this year Katherine, Ethan, and her boyfriend moved as a family into an apartment of their own. Katherine also returned to school. She chose an alternative school that can provide day care for Ethan. She will graduate in January. She recognizes the importance of her education, stating that, “Ethan will have a much better chance of graduating if both his parents have graduated. My whole life revolves around making a better life for my son.”

As always, there are challenges. During the summer, while school was out, Katherine worked two jobs to support herself and provide for Ethan. One job was at a day care center that let her bring Ethan for free. Once school started in August she had to leave the day care job, keeping just her second job at Subway, and is now having a hard time making ends meet. Katherine has no reliable transportation which makes it difficult to manage her busy schedule, getting to and from school, work and appointments and makes it a challenge to get Ethan safely from place to place. Having a reliable car would open doors for Katherine to be able to budget her time better and perhaps earn more income, as well as provide safe transport for Ethan, and piece of mind for Katherine, knowing Ethan is safely buckled in to a car seat properly set for his size and weight.

If you have a reliable used car you’ve been thinking of donating, you could help Katherine as she continues to make progress toward her goals of a better, more stable life for her and her son, please give Joyce a call at 970-472-4293.

Please join us for a complimentary breakfast to hear the testimony of those the Matthews House has touched personally and to learn more about how the Matthews House is changing the lives of at-risk youth in our community.

In this one-hour program you will have the opportunity to hear directly from youth and mentors about their experience at the Matthews House, about the vision and heart of the organization from Founder and Executive Director, Jerri Howe and about the opportunity and responsibility the community has to come alongside and change the lives of these youth forever from former Fort Collins mayor Ray Martinez.

Where
Hilton Fort Collins
425 W Prospect

When
Thursday, October 30th
7:00 to 7:30am – Coffee and Conversation
7:30 to 8:30am – Program

RSVP

For more information or to RSVP, please contact Joyce.
Thanks to our underwriting sponsor Realities for Children
and also AlphaGraphics and Hilton Fort Collins

Very early Friday morning, August 1, 2008 hundreds of runners gathered outside the Budweiser Tour Center to begin the Wild West Relay. Twelve of those runners were running to raise money for the Matthews House. Over the next 31 hours, 29 minutes and 26 seconds, they ran through the 100 degree mid-day heat and the 40 degree mountain night before ending at Steamboat Springs High School around noon the next day.

In addition to training to run from 11 to 19 miles each, these runners committed to raising funds and awareness for the Matthews House, with a team goal to raise $6,000. Our team was amazing, not only arriving in Steamboat with enthusiasm to spare, but also far-exceeding the fundraising goal – raising over $7,700!

Congratulations to team Just Passin’ Thru:
Steve Griffin, Tiana Nelson, Missy Larson, Lindsey McEvoy, Jamie Thorson, Renee Oppel, Gail Doesken, Mike Maher, Linda Maher, Vanessa Aschmann, Daryle Dickens and Joyce Dickens.

“The Wild West Relay was an incredible experience in and of itself, but running it for a reason was by far the most wonderful part to me. Not only is The Matthews House such an important organization in our community but also the people on our team had a special dedication and awesome energy that made the race that much more fun. I’ll take away so much from the race – not only friendships and a feeling of accomplishment – but also tons of memories: sleeping for about two hours the whole race during which time the sprinklers came on and drenched our sleeping bags; running all alone in the middle of the night and looking up at a beautiful sky of stars; coming together as a team when things got tough; listening to the same CD for about 15 hours; running across the finish line as a team; and, of course, how good that breakfast burrito tasted at the end!”

~Tiana Nelson, Just Passin’ Thru runner #5