by Jon DeCarmine
Julie and Art moved out of GRACE and into a place of their own last week. Tonight, they can cook a meal together. They’re out of the cold (or the heat). They can plug in their phones without worrying about someone stealing them. And there’s a door they can lock behind them. Tonight, they can celebrate all of the little things we take for granted when we’re used to having a home.
We’re celebrating Julie and Art because they are the 300th and 301st person housed by GRACE since we opened. It took us about a year to house our first 100, and another year to house the next 100. This time it only took us 8 months to house the next 100.
Each of these successes is a story of GRACE, but more than that, it’s a story of personal struggle, setback, and resilience. We provide the place to safely crash land, but each of these stories starts and ends with the challenges people have to overcome, and the creativity and resourcefulness they stitch together to make it work.
Please get in touch with us to volunteer and help us get to #400 even faster: volunteer@gracemarketplace.org or 352-792-0800 x104.