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Hilda

New Life

Photo of HildaAt age 48, Hilda finds herself where she never expected – starting life over. Thanks to SEARCH, she has shelter, work, and now, hope for the future.

Born and raised in Houston, she faced what no child should ever have to face: the loss of her mother at age ten. Within two years, she also lost her father and grandmother. Yet she went on to graduate from Incarnate Word Academy in 1978 and spent the next few years building her life, working up from her first job as a file clerk to building a career in health and management services.

She started her family of three children and was living the universal dream: home, car, work and the income to provide for her family and enjoy little luxuries, such as meals out or a trip to the movies. Everything she built began to unravel when she was laid off in 2005.

She readily admits she made poor choices that had severe consequences.

“I was hanging around the wrong people,” she says. That led to substance abuse and a stint in jail.

“I lost my children. I lost everything. I wasn’t taking care of business.”

As 2009 began, she was at rock bottom with no home, no work and no prospects. Even her children were gone, in the care of relatives. SEARCH was her first stop and her salvation.

At SEARCH, she was provided shelter and the tools needed to rebuild her life. Her life improved with basic services, such as a bus pass and gift certificates for food, to helping her find a job as a technician at an animal shelter.

Her job has renewed her confidence that she can put her life together again. It is also an affirmation of one of SEARCH’s basic tenets – find a job, keep a job, get a better job.

While she has some distance to go, determination and faith are her strengths. And SEARCH is her foundation.

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