Already a father of two, he was ecstatic when he learned his partner was expecting triplets. Unfortunately, one of the triplets did not survive the pregnancy and Charles and his girlfriend welcomed two sons to join their older son and daughter.
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The loss of their child was heartbreaking, but especially difficult for Charles’ girlfriend. She was soon overwhelmed with postpartum depression, and she ultimately could not handle the responsibilities of motherhood and left Charles with four children.
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It was the beginning of a dark time for Charles and his children.
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“I did the best I could. I went to work every day and took care of the kids as best I could,” says Charles. I started losing time at work because of my responsibilities to the kids. Because of that, I eventually lost my job. I couldn’t pay my bills and eventually lost my home. We wound up living in hotels for about a year.”
Charles was so close to giving up on himself when he learned of the HomeBASE program at Metro Housing. HomeBASE is program of the Massachusetts Department of Housing and Community Development (DHCD) designed to reduce the number of families in shelters and motels by providing financial assistance, resources, and services to quickly re-house them. Like many of the dead ends he had encountered, Charles’ expectations were low.
“I was floored at the response from Metro Housing, to be honest. They got in touch with me right away,” says Charles. “My caseworker Fabio was unbelievable. He was relentless in helping me get things done, including finding my family a place to live.”
Fabio was as impressed with Charles as Charles was of him.
“Charles is one of the most compassionate fathers I have ever worked with. He has been so resilient, says Fabio Oliveira, HomeBASE Case Manager. “He is so patient, kind, and loving even when he is overwhelmed with all of his parenting responsibilities.”
HomeBASE introduced Charles to Nurturing Families of Massachusetts and its Nurturing Fathers program. Hoping to improve his parenting skills, he signed up for their 12-week course. Before the course was over, he had been offered a job with Nurturing Fathers.
“So not only am I a nurturing Father for the program, now I am getting ready to be a Facilitating Coordinator and return to school for a degree in social work. I’m still trying to wrap my head around everything HomeBase has done for me. They gave me the stability that I needed to be able to focus on my kids as well as myself. I don’t know where me and my children would be without Metro Housing's help .”
– CHARLES
HomeBASE​
HomeBASE is a program of the Massachusetts Department of Housing and Community Development designed to reduce the need for motels and shelters. The goal is to assist families who are facing homelessness to find alternative solutions to entering shelter and/or motels.