I was very concerned about my teenage son. We lived in a bad area with gangs. I didn’t like him being around people who were bad influences on him with their lifestyle and gang-related activity. Although my son hadn’t joined a gang yet, I saw that this was not a good future for our family.

Little by little, I saw changes in my son’s behavior and attitude. The things he was thinking and saying weren’t respectful toward my husband and me. We knew we needed to move out of this neighborhood before things started getting out of control. I have two little girls and my son is the oldest — he needs to set an example. And that wasn’t happening. Far from it.

I’m so grateful that God led me to a Rescue Mission counselor at our church. I told him about the situation with our son and after we spoke, he told us a bit about the program, and we decided to give it a try. Thank God everything has gone smoothly.

We’ve been here about a year, and the experience has been very good. I already see positive changes. We have more family time, and our son is around more and not out with people he’s not supposed to be with.

I interact with my neighbors and I find that it’s calmer here. That’s just how everybody who lives here is. It’s a family and it’s so peaceful.

It is also giving us a chance to save money and they are helping us organize our finances by showing us how to prepare a monthly budget. We are trying to save money to get a better home for our family. We want to show that we really made the most of our opportunities here. The help that the Rescue Mission is giving us allows us to do that. We’re so thankful every day.