Pregnant Tent City Mom Achieves Independent LivIng

Destiny was living in a tent city – and pregnant with twins – when she reached out to Healthy Babies Project.

She needed a way to keep herself and her babies safe from their abusive father. And she struggled to make it to her medical appointments.

Destiny was matched with a case manager at HBP. The first thing they worked on together was to get Destiny to a doctor regularly so she could make sure she and her twins were healthy.

No more running away

Soon, Destiny began to trust her case manager. At long last, she had someone who cared about her and helped her be accountable – important, because Destiny had a history of running away, and she realized she couldn’t run away from twins.

The babies were born healthy, but nearly 3 months early. They stayed in the hospital for weeks. In the meantime, Destiny kept working with her case manager, who helped her navigate the paperwork labyrinth to get birth certificates for the twins … job applications … finding temporary housing through HBP.

Leaving the tent city behind

Now, two years later, the twins are thriving, healthy, and developmentally exceeding expectations. Destiny has a job. She has been able to reconnect with her family and build a positive relationship with them.

And at last, she and her babies have their own place. Destiny recently signed a lease on her own apartment.

It took years, Destiny acknowledges. But she persevered. “I want my kids to be happy and healthy,” says Destiny. “I’m working to make sure they have that kind of life.”