Dad finds hope as he rebuilds his life

When the mortgage company he’d worked for for 15 years went under, T. lost months of back salary owed to him. “I wasn’t getting paid but I didn’t want to abandon the company. I stayed too long,” said T., a single dad with a teen daughter. Without a job, things quickly fell apart. Gone were his savings, his housing, good credit rating, and the stable life he’d built for himself and his daughter. Suddenly homeless, they moved in with his mother across town in another school district.

That’s when T. got a referral to the Community Social Work Program sponsored by the Suburban Ramsey Family Collaborative in partnership with Keystone Community Services. The program is aimed at promoting stability for families in crisis whose children attend school in north suburban Ramsey County. The first thing Keystone social worker Melissa Maaske-Ritchison did was arrange transportation so that T.’s daughter could stay at her school. “This was huge for me,” said T. “The whole situation has been so hard on my daughter. I didn’t want any more disruption in her life, but I couldn’t afford to drive her across town every day. As I try to get back on my feet, at least she has the stability of being with her friends at a school she knows and likes.”

 Each week, T. meets with Melissa, pictured here, to get ideas and help with his job search and finding permanent housing. Most important, though, is the moral support she provides, T. said. “When I met Melissa, I was pretty depressed and feeling hopeless. That’s changed. She’s opened so many doors for me. I don’t know where I’d be right now without her encouragement,” T. said. “You can’t put a price tag on the value of this program. It’s something I’ll never forget, and when I get back on my feet, I want to contribute so others can get this help.”