On New Year’s Eve, 2021, Renea was in the hospital welcoming the birth of her second daughter. The joy of bringing her child into this world was clouded by the unsettling fact that Renea was being released from the hospital on New Year’s Day and had nowhere to go. She had lost her job, her home and had no option to stay with family or friends.

“I left the hospital with my baby in one arm and my older daughter holding my other hand,” Renea remembers. “We needed somewhere to stay. We would have been sleeping in my car in the middle of winter.”

Renea had heard about the Milwaukee Rescue Mission’s Joy House, our shelter for women and children, and drove here from the hospital. “I sat in my car for 30 minutes, contemplating whether I should go in. I came in, and it was one of the best decisions I ever made.”

 In Joy House, Renea immediately felt at ease. She was grateful that she and her girls were safe, warm and cared for. She quickly adapted to the structure of the program, and her older daughter enjoyed making friends with the other children.

By Easter, she found a good job and a safe place to live. Joy House had made a deep impression on her, including the program’s consistent schedule. Renea still incorporates Wednesday Night Bible Studies, Friday Family Fun Nights and cleaning on Saturdays into her family’s weekly routine.

More than that, Joy House provided Renea with strong, positive relationships with staff and fellow residents that have helped sustain her to this day. Being at Joy House also gave Renea a deeper connection to God, which she shares with her daughters, Ariionna, eight-years-old, and Arayia, now four-years-old. “By the time we left Joy House,” she recalls, “Ariionna was leading prayer in the morning at breakfast. It was sweet!”

Renea looks back to that cold January morning when she sat in her car outside Joy House wondering what the new year would have in store for her and her little girls. “I felt like there was no hope,” she says, “but it just all came together.”

You help make Joy House a place where miracles happen for women like Renea. She is thankful that Joy House was here for her and her girls when she needed refuge and restoration. She says, “I’m proof that by the time you leave Joy House, you’re on track for sure!”

Please help more women and families find hope and new life at Joy House this Easter season!