Divorced and suddenly homeless. Now, Molly is building a new life.

After getting divorced, Molly just wants peace, quiet and safety. At the Catherine Twomey House, she can recover from the trauma of losing her home and ending her marriage.

What happened

On the outside, her life seemed stable. She is very involved in her church, she has an established and rewarding job and, until recently, she owned a home.

That wasn’t always the case. More than 20 years ago, Molly struggled with addiction. When she was charged with retail theft, she vowed to turn her life around.

Her life changed with one phone call

The stable life she had built for herself ended abruptly with a phone call. One morning, her bank called. They told her that her house was being foreclosed upon, after too many missed payments. She thought it must be a mistake. Her husband handled the house and mortgage payments. For months, he had kept it a secret from her that he stopped making payments to their bank. By the time she got the call, all opportunities to stop the eviction had passed. Her marriage might not have been perfect, but she never anticipated that this could happen.

Getting her own place after getting divorced was out of reach

Going through a divorce and without a home, Molly was desperate to find a place she could afford by herself. Even though she loves her full-time job in the education sector, her net salary of $1,125 per month is not enough to afford even a small apartment in Chester County. She has learned to live on extremely strict budgets, but with rent starting at $885 for an efficiency apartment, getting her own place again was out of reach. Molly was determined to be independent and all she wanted was a safe home, a place to recover.

During our first meeting with her, she said: “In the past, I allowed a man to get me off my square. Never again.”

Molly recently moved into our Catherine Twomey House. As a participant in our Pre-Senior Housing Program, she is now on the waiting list for senior subsidized housing. It will take a couple of years until she will have a permanent home again. In the meantime, the Catherine Twomey House provides a safe space for Molly to recover from the trauma she experienced. With the support of her church, friends, and Home of the Sparrow, she is building a life that is independent and self-determined.

The day after her move in, Molly told us: “I just felt safe. That’s all I really wanted. I wanted peace. Thank you so much!”