Charles had been content in the life he was leading. He had a stable home and a union job with a railroad company that paid him well.
Already a father of two, he was ecstatic when he learned his partner was expecting triplets. Unfortunately, one of the triplets did not survive the pregnancy and Charles and his girlfriend welcomed two sons to join their older son and daughter.
The loss of their child was heartbreaking, but especially difficult for Charles’ girlfriend. She was soon overwhelmed with postpartum depression, and she ultimately could not handle the responsibilities of motherhood and left Charles with four children.
It was the beginning of a dark time for Charles and his children.
“I did the best I could. I went to work every day and took care of the kids as best I could,” says Charles. I started losing time at work because of my responsibilities to the kids. Because of that, I eventually lost my job. I couldn’t pay my bills and eventually lost my home. We wound up living in hotels for about a year.”
So not only am I a nurturing Father for the program, now I am getting ready to be a Facilitating Coordinator and return to school for a degree in social work. I’m still trying to wrap my head around everything HomeBase has done for me. They gave me the stability that I needed to be able to focus on my kids as well as myself. I don’t know where me and my children would be without Metro Housing’s help .
-Charles
“I was floored at the response from Metro Housing, to be honest. They got in touch with me right away,” says Charles. “My caseworker Fabio was unbelievable. He was relentless in helping me get things done, including finding my family a place to live.”
Fabio was as impressed with Charles as Charles was of him.
“Charles is one of the most compassionate fathers I have ever worked with. He has been so resilient, says Fabio Oliveira, HomeBASE Case Manager. “He is so patient, kind, and loving even when he is overwhelmed with all of his parenting responsibilities.”
HomeBASE introduced Charles to Nurturing Families of Massachusetts and its Nurturing Fathers program. Hoping to improve his parenting skills, he signed up for their 12-week course. Before the course was over, he had been offered a job with Nurturing Fathers.
