A recent guest at the Monadnock Area Transitional Shelter in Peterborough is a young mother with three children, who were very well behaved during the interview. All three will be in school this year, which will help our guest to find a job and begin to move forward with life.

The father of the boys was abusive both physically and verbally to this woman. She tried to give him a chance so they could remain a family, but it didn’t work. She had to go to a shelter near where they lived in a neighboring state because she could not keep up with the rent for their apartment. However, she was able to get the children into a voucher program through the local Catholic Charities, and they were able to attend school, which will help them this year.

“The shelter there was not a very caring environment where we were just a number,” she told me. Wanting to get away from that situation, and knowing this area of New Hampshire near where she was born, she decided to make a call to the town offices in Peterborough to learn of options here. Subsequently, she asked someone to watch her children, and had another friend drive her to MATS for the interviews. As a child, our guest’s father’s job with a large company meant that their family moved frequently to different parts of the country. And her widowed mother now lives in Florida, making her unavailable to help.

This enterprising young mother has worked since she was 13, and was on her own by the time she was 15, when she earned her welding certificate. She has done many different jobs in restoration and construction since then. Due to a back injury while working in those jobs, and loving dogs, she is now hoping to learn dog training skills in order to avoid returning to construction work. She is looking to find a mentor training dogs so she can learn as she goes. She also needs the funds to purchase the equipment for that work.

Our guest has an excellent driving record but needs to apply for and get her driver’s license in New Hampshire. However, getting a car will be more difficult. She also is working to transfer her food stamps voucher from her former state to New Hampshire, which has not been an easy process.

She is very impressed with the difference in lifestyles between her former state and here. There, people would fight over their place in lines, even at a food pantry. Here, she said, people are much more polite and helpful. She has noticed that people like doing things as families, like fishing, swimming, and creating a much healthier atmosphere, unlike where she used to live.

“MATS offers a great opportunity for us,” she said. “Susan –  the MATS case manager – is so caring and interested in an individual’s needs. It’s an honor to be part of this program. I expected my struggles to continue and am dumbfounded how my being here has all worked out.”

Susan is very objective and assists in keeping this young woman on track, helping her with itemizing and prioritizing what needs to be accomplished. “Often, I can be scatter-brained, and Susan can be ruthless, but in a most loving way,” she continued.

This guest loves it here. She is a very motivated, philosophical, and a very hard-working person. Please join me in wishing her great success with her life and the lives of her three boys.

An update: The woman about whom I wrote last month has secured a job at a local nursing home so she is on her way to become a LNA.

WISH LIST: As always, we still need two reliable cars to be donated to MATS for two of our guests who want jobs – we help prepare the paperwork for your taxes should you be able to offer us a car. We need twin bed mattress and box spring sets, a baby monitor, and gift cards for local stores for essentials not covered by food stamps.

Please call the MATS office and leave a message for Susan at 924-5033 or mail items to MATS, P.O. Box 3053, Peterborough 03458. Thank you very much for all your wonderful support!

Hope Pettegrew is a volunteer at MATS.