Wendy learned something new here:
It turns out she’s a great mom.

I’d been on the run for a year when I discovered I was pregnant. And it was the worst news of my life. I was strung out, and living with an abusive drug addict. I was so bruised I couldn’t recognize myself, never mind think about some child inside me.

Something had to change. I turned my boyfriend in for assault. I went to a runaway shelter, but I didn’t last—in two weeks I was arrested. They sent me to a home, and I had my baby there. When she was a month old, I finally got to leave, so I found my own place in Missoula. Things were looking up.

But that didn’t last either. Completely broke, I was kicked back to the streets. Then I heard about Mountain Home.

I can’t say I was thrilled to move in with a bunch of people, after being on my own and all. But it turns out there wasn’t anything better I could have done. I needed a stable place to raise my girl. And, I needed to learn how to raise her.

Now I’m in college, I’m an excellent mom, and despite what I’ve been through, I have a beautiful, healthy daughter. Mountain Home saved our lives, and taught me how to give my daughter the hope I never knew.

NOTE: All photos, names, and story details have been changed to protect the identities of our moms and their kids.