Breaking Cycles, Building Dreams: How Wendy Turned Struggle into Success

Warren Village resident, 2024-present

Wendy was sixteen when she had her first child, seventeen when she had her second. By her junior year of high school, she was a mother of two grappling with judgment from others and a profound lack of support.

“I never celebrated my pregnancies or nothing, just because of a lot of the stereotypes,” Wendy recalls. “It’s not something that people were proud of or supported. It was hard to get support from communities and even my own family, just because I was so young.”

But rather than giving up, something else happened. “It gave me a different drive, like something else, like a new fire built in me to do better, to keep going to school.”

Against all odds, Wendy graduated high school with two small children. But the challenges were far from over.

Seeking Stability, Finding Hope

After leaving a difficult relationship in 2020, Wendy entered a domestic violence shelter through Florence Crittenton. She was already an alumna of their program and maintained connections with them, including seeing a therapist there. During her sessions, she expressed her deepest wish: she wanted to go back to school, to do it the right way, to create a better future for her sons.

“I would literally do anything to go back to school,” she told her therapist. “I need to get back to school. Please help me.”

By 2023, while working full-time and struggling to maintain her apartment, Wendy was experiencing extreme highs and lows—unable to achieve consistent stability. Florence Crittenton broke her lease contract to help her transition to Warren Village First Step, where she would pay very low rent and could finally pursue her education full-time.

“They said, ‘This house is communal living. You’re already paying your rent. It would just be beneficial if we help you break your contract, get you out of it, and put you into this house, put you on all state benefits, and then go back to school full-time,'” Wendy explains. “That’s pretty much what I did.”

Finding Community and Healing

At Warren Village, Wendy found more than affordable housing—she found comprehensive support that addressed every aspect of rebuilding her life.

“The biggest thing that they supported me and helped me with was my mental health,” she says. Mental health support, financial counseling, parenting classes, credit repair—Warren Village provided tools she needed not just to survive, but to thrive.

“They helped me with my debt, my credit, just like a little bit of every aspect of what it takes to be successful in the long run. So I don’t leave there like, ‘Oh damn, I didn’t know about my credit.’ They’re trying to help you with precautions. You’re here, let’s work on stuff that when you leave here, you don’t have to worry about anymore.”

The staff made all the difference. “They’re so approachable in every aspect. I feel like you can really come and talk to them about anything, and they either are gonna listen if that’s what you need, understand, or help find resources.”

During holidays when she had nowhere to go, the First Step community became her family. “A lot of us didn’t have anywhere to go, so we would just make our own get-togethers.”

Building a Future

Today, Wendy is halfway through earning her bachelor’s degree in criminal justice and corrections. She’s working at a halfway house as a community corrections specialist, monitoring residents transitioning from prison—experience directly aligned with her goal of eventually becoming a prison warden.

She recently moved to Warren Village’s Alameda campus, where she has what she calls “the little mini penthouse”—a corner apartment with views of the entire city. For the first time, she can celebrate holidays in her own space with her two sons.

“I’m kind of on the timeline right now,” she says of her plans. “I’ll finish university in two years, and then possibly start working in the prisons.”

A Message of Resilience

When asked what stereotypes she’d like to dispel about single parents, Wendy is direct: “I feel like a lot of people think that we’re not suitable enough to be parents, regardless of age. I feel like age shouldn’t really matter. It’s about maturity. A lot of us grow up with our kids, and we learn as we go.”

Her advice to other struggling single parents? “It can’t last forever. You just got to get through it. Instead of thinking, ‘I’m stuck in this place,’ just walk right through it. Try to get to the other side.”

What is she most proud of? “How kind I’ve always stayed. Regardless of how people treat you and how they feel about you, I still haven’t changed. I didn’t let them get to me to the point where I have to do bad to other people because of the bad that has been done to me.”

From teen mother facing judgment and instability to college student and criminal justice professional with a clear path forward—Wendy’s story proves that with the right support at the right moment, young parents can break cycles and build the futures they dream of for themselves and their children.

“You have to go through the storm to feel some calm afterwards,” Wendy reflects. “But a lot of it is you have to put in the work, unfortunately. But it’s rewarding at the end.”