Empowerment For a Better Future

​​​​With tears spilling over her eyelids and down her cheeks, Falisha recalled buried details of her rocky childhood - responsibilities no child should've shouldered, experiences no child should've had. One poignant memory that surfaces is her, standing on a milk crate at five years old, leaning too close to the hot stove, trying to cook dinner for her two younger siblings, one just a baby, as her mother had yet again left them alone for hours with virtually no food in the house and no promise that she'd be back.

Falisha cannot remember a time in her life when she wasn't responsible - for her own wellbeing, making sure others were taken care of. She never had the childhood most imagine - carefree, fun and full of joy. Even with her eyes full of tears,​​ you can see the determination in her eyes, "it is going to be different for my kids," she said. "They deserve a better life than I had."

Homelessness wasn't a slow burn for Falisha, it happened all at once - in one day, with one life-changing event. Falisha and her two kids, just seven and one at the time, lived with her grandfather. She was his fulltime caretaker - an In-Home Supportive Services (IHSS) worker. Not only was she able to provide care for her grandfather, but through the IHSS program, was able to get paid as his caretaker and provide for her family.

In 2022, her grandfather passed away, somewhat unexpectedly, despite his prolonged illness. While spiraling from the emotional trauma of losing her grandfather, Falisha lost a lot more - her income, her housing and every other pillar of stability she had in one fell swoop.

"They Came Knocking"

Falisha moved herself and her small children into her car, doing everything she could to get them safe, fed, clean, get her oldest to school, find a new job, find daycare for her youngest all while making she her car didn't get towed. "The police would come knock on our window and tell us we couldn't stay where we were parked. It was so stressful, constantly moving the car."

Falisha used her phone to google every possible resource she could find to help her. She found Women's Empowerment (WE). Women's Empowerment is a local organization, run by women, created to provide counseling, education, resources, services and empowerment to women escaping domestic violence, experiencing homelessness or dealing with extreme poverty. The goal is to break generational cycles of homelessness, violence and poverty and graduate to stability, growth, education and housing. Sacramento County invested $1.45 million in American Rescue Plan Act (ARPA) funds into Women's Empowerment to help support its mission.

"I Put in Twice as Many Applications"

Women's Empowerment served lunch every day, Falisha stopped by and collected the food to keep for her kid's dinner that night. Falisha started braiding hair to make money while she looked for a job.

Falisha and her kids had lived in her car for nearly four months when Women's Empowerment was able to get her into shelter. Falisha started a series of programs offered by WE to help with job readiness and training, education on renting housing, finding childcare and more. Falisha graduated from Carrington College and put in dozens of applications. The job training kit provided by WE had a recommended number of applications applicants should aim for every week, Falisha put in twice as many applications.

Because of her technical and hands on training at college, Falisha was able to get a job as a pharmacy technician at a local drug store. Through consistent hard work, Falisha has promoted and been at her job the past two years. With the slow increase in income, WE was able to place Falisha and her kids at Trellis Gardens - a transitional workforce housing program that provides subsidized housing and support to working graduates of Women's Empowerment's Job-Readiness & Empowerment Program and their children who cannot yet achieve market-rate rent.

"I Am Going to Leave My Kids Something, They Deserve That"

Falisha's goal isn't to work as a pharmacy tech forever. Her hands-on work in the science and technology field has given her a love of compounding and in her very scant spare time, she has been experimenting with sugar scrubs. She has perfected her recipe, secured her own LLC, designed the packaging and thought through how to ship product. Now she needs to learn how to create her very own website!

But finding the time to run a side business while still scrapping just to make ends meet is her daily struggle. "It is so hard to do it all as a single mom. I get up early to make sure everything gets done. Making breakfast, getting the kids clean, getting my son to daycare, my daughter to school, I work until 5 p.m., then it's dinner, homework, showers, cleaning, bedtime. If I am lucky I find time to exercise to keep myself healthy and then start all over again the next day." Falisha looks away as her eyes fill with tears. "But my kids are worth it. I am going to leave them something - a piece of land, some inheritance of some kind - something. I will keep fighting for that."

The Blessing of Trellis Gardens

"Trellis Gardens has been amazing. It is like our own little house, but we didn't have to pay our full rent at first, just a little bit. And the house came with everything we needed."

Trellis Gardens fully furnish the cottages, provides all housing wares like pots/pans, sheets, furniture and more for incoming residents. Every household has children. Staffing includes specialists in employment, housing, increasing income, schooling, a case manager, safety monitor and admin staff. The National Council of Jewish Women fills the food pantry weekly, as well as helps with car repairs to keep residents' cars running to avoid the high cost of car payments for newer cars.

Residents can stay for up to 24 months, with their rent slowly increasing as they prepare to enter the rental market at market rate prices. When they exit, their first three months of paid rent at Trellis Gardens are returned to them.

Ready to Fly Soon

Falisha and her kids will be ready to leave Trellis Gardens soon. It is bittersweet - it means she has graduated all the programs, grown her income and is ready to rent a place of her own. But it also means she is responsible for herself and her kids - by herself. Her case workers have all the faith in the world in her ability to succeed.

She knows she likely won't stay in Sacramento forever - it is too expensive to live here. To reach her ultimate goals, she needs a better balance for herself and her kids, but for now, Sacramento is home.

"I am just so grateful to be here - I shouldn't be here after everything I've been through. I have come so far. I've reached every goal I ever set for myself. I graduated from college. I got my job as a pharmacy tech. I lost 100 lbs. I'll be a millionaire one day, I know it. I am going to get there - just wait."

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