Success can be defined in many ways. Terry Allebaugh, executive director of Housing for New Hope, defines it as having your name on a lease.
Allebaugh and others celebrated the success of three formerly homeless Durham residents yesterday at the Chapel. William Hawkins, Brian McLendon and Trico Newton all completed one-year residencies in the transitional housing programs run by Housing for New Hope, a non-profit organization that works to end homelessness in Durham. Hawkins and McLendon graduated from the program’s Phoenix House, and Newton from Dove House. All three are now living independently.
Attendees of the close-knit gathering included Housing for New Hope board members and staff, current members of the Phoenix and Dove houses, alumni of Housing for Hope and family members of the new graduates. Allebaugh said Housing for New Hope was invited to hold the ceremony in the Chapel by Pastor Nancy Ferree-Clark and Gaston Warner, director of university and community relations.
Allebaugh said it is important to honor the achievements of Hawkins, McLendon and Newton because the structured program can be very challenging, and completion of the program demonstrates that the graduates have made “very important steps.”
The difficulty of the program was made clear in stories shared by the honorees.
Hawkins, who left the Phoenix House after six months, returned after being imprisoned. He had a hard time getting a job, particularly struggling with passing the computer component of one of his applications. Although McLendon was praised for keeping his focus on completing the program, his case manager, Wayne Eaton, said he was at times resistant to having rules imposed on him.
Newton said when she joined the Dove House, she was “a broken, homeless, and drug-addicted woman, and [she] also felt lonely.”
Today, all three graduates have jobs and have their names on a lease. They have also been reunited with their families—specifically, Newton with her children and McLendon with his nephew.
Symbols of these achievements, a plaque and a check for $500, were presented to the honorees by their case managers, resident managers and relief staff.
The ceremony also “offers inspiration back to [current members],” Allebaugh said.
Current members of the two transitional living programs were asked to stand, state their names and the date they will graduate.
“[The ceremony] meant a lot because I’m trying to change myself,” said Fred Roberson, a current member of the Phoenix House and Hawkins’ former roommate,
Roberson, who has been at the Phoenix House for four months, moved in after being imprisoned for selling drugs. His goals are to become a part of society again and to get his children back. He said Phoenix House has allowed him to realize that his actions affect others.
But current members of Housing for New Hope are not the only ones who need encouragement.
“We in the community also need this,” Allebaugh said. “We are just overwhelmed by bad news every day... [at this ceremony] we get to feel a sense of gratitude.”
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