Veronica Morales, a housing specialist with Aspiranet’s Transitional Aged Youth programs, knows first-hand what’s it’s like to live on the streets. She spent much of her youth in foster care, and then when she became pregnant at 18, she moved out of her foster home and ended up living in her car with her infant son. “It was just survival every day,” she said. “That makes me think about every youth that I work with every day. I know exactly how they feel.”
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Things changed in 2008, when Veronica was offered the opportunity to participate in Aspiranet’s Transitional Housing Plus (THP+) program, which provides housing assistance, job readiness and life skills training. “The program was like a miracle out of nowhere,” she said.
In the years since, Veronica has completed her education and returned to Aspiranet as a TAY staff member, helping youth find their way from foster care to independence.
Her son is almost a teenager. “I’ve taught him this world can be a cruel place,” she says, “but you can make it a happier place if you’re just who you are and keep doing what you do from a good place in your heart.”