Sharon joined the Family Self-Sufficiency Program at WCCA in the Fall of 2001 because she was looking for a source of support while she worked towards her goals.  Sharon’s goals included finding a full-time job, going back to school to earn her degree, and saving money to buy a home.  As a newly single mother of three, she knew she needed to make a change in her life if she was to provide for her family.
     After finding a job with First Union Bank and working for a year there, Sharon decided on a career change to a career related to health and medicine.  She landed a full-time job at Gaia Herbs, a local manufacturer of herbal supplements.  This position would give her work experience, as well as allow her the opportunity to take classes through the company.  Sharon also decided that she wanted to pursue education at the college level, so she completed her SAT’s and began attending classes at Blue Ridge Community College. 
     The FSS Coordinator referred Sharon to the Family Partners program at Transylvania Christian Ministries in the summer of 2003.  Sharon’s family was partnered with a team of individuals who listened to her concerns about being a single parent and helped her find supportive resources.  In the Fall of 2003, the Wheels-to-Work program (also through TCM) donated a Ford Taurus to Sharon to enable her to maintain reliable transportation to work. 
     Sharon continued to work on other goals she had named in her Family Self-Sufficiency Goal Plan---paying down debt, starting her own savings account plus an Individual Development Account (IDA) for a home purchase, while continuing to work towards her Associate’s transfer degree at BRCC.  Along the way, she increased her own income and accrued over $15,000 in her FSS escrow account. 
     As the pieces of Sharon’s goal plan came to fruition, she could see how homeownership was a real possibility for her.  On July 28, 2005, Sharon and her three children saw their dream of a home of their own become reality.
      Today Sharon continues to work on building her home’s value, to attend BRCC, and finds her work rewarding as a valued member of the Department of Social Services.