Helping a hard-working mom and son improve their living environment.

Though the Horizon Neighbors in Health program, our HCPC Community Health Worker helped a 34-year-old, single mom who lives with her 15-year-old son. The mom shared her experience and negative impact of growing up in a community flooded with gun violence – a persistent issue in their neighborhood. The mom was very concerned that the violence would continue to escalate and threaten their safety. Over the years, gun violence has caused many deaths in their community – especially at the park across the street from their building.

The mom and son’s apartment had many signs of neglect by the landlord, creating an increasingly hazardous environment. They had mold build-up in their bathroom due to a broken exhaust fan, multiple faulty outlets that they had taped over, and a broken door leading to their balcony that created a significant draft. The mom had tried to fix the broken door by taping cardboard and plastic bags to it to keep the freezing temperatures out.

The mom envisioned moving to a safer neighborhood by creating new opportunities for herself and her son and worked hard to continue her education. She had recently begun classes at William Paterson University to pursue a bachelor’s degree in Molecular Biology. 

HCPC helped significantly improve the family’s quality of life in many ways. Our worker secured a new laptop for them after discovering that they had an outdated laptop that required floppy discs to save notes and essays from class … and connected them with a housing organization to assist them in moving to a safer town.