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photo of mother and son

It’s Our Own Space

PUBLISHED: Jul 27, 2021

A few months ago, Millicent and her 13-year-old son Julian were living in their truck. When spots opened up, they moved to a shelter in downtown San Francisco where they shared a communal room. A month ago, Compass Family Services–a long-time grantee and one of 13 organizations to receive emergency funding from Tipping Point–helped them get their own apartment.

“Now, we have our own single room with a door and a key. There’s a double bunk bed, a dresser, a cupboard to store dry goods, and our own bathroom. There are windows too. I feel so grateful to be here for shelter-in-place. I feel much safer knowing that I can walk around with my wipes and clean my area. And it’s just us…it’s our own space.”

Compass understands what parents need. Simple thingsa door, a pantry, somewhere to cook for your family. That’s one of the most important things you can do as a parent. Now I can cook for my son. The other day, I made cheesecake. I’ve made an apple pie. I cook whatever is on sale at FoodCo–simple stuff like chicken or steak. My son thinks I should be a cook and start my own restaurant–we even have a name for it–‘Ummm.’ As in, ‘where do you want to eat tonight?’ We’d be everyone’s first choice. It makes us laugh every time.”

THE NUMBERS
mother and son photo

Data from Tipping Point-funded workforce development organizations.

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