HOLIDAY, Fla — The days of working at a fast-food restaurant and struggling to support her kids are over for Mahogany Phillips.
“I’m still kind of overwhelmed because I’m going to become a nurse," said Phillips.
Phillips and her three kids were living in hotels before she reached out to Metropolitan Ministries.
In about eight months, she now has a place to live, earned her GED, and is certified to work as a medical tech.
She’s also in college, working toward becoming a nurse.
“I said college? Me? Yea, of course let’s do that," said Phillips.
She says this is all a future she never imagined.
“I didn’t think I was going to be in the healthcare field. I never saw that for myself," Phillips said.
Phillips says she couldn’t have done all this without Metropolitan Ministries and the services offered at its new Family Services Center in Holiday.
With the expansion, the West Pasco campus can now house 48 families.
A learning center will open soon, along with a new dining hall.
There is a library and a market where people can get fresh produce.
Leona Wells is a managing director here.
"People are one set of tires away from homelessness. Even before the hurricanes. Even before the these recessionary prices, people don’t have the nest egg they used to have, that buffer. One small thing can throw a family into homelessness," said Wells.
Phillips is on her way to becoming self-sufficient, and the thought fills her with joy.
“I am becoming a nurse. That is the goal," she said with a big small.
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