Photographed: Linda and Danasia heading to tell their story at the City of Williamsburg Masquerade Ball Campaign kick off for the United Way of Greater Williamsburg.
In January 2015, Linda made the tough decision to move to Williamsburg, VA to seek better care and support for Danasia as she prepared to start pre-kindergarten in September. When Danasia, was 4 months old she was diagnosed with sever Crohn’s disease and had to have a feeding tube put in. Linda and her daughter called a local motel home while she searched for permanent housing. After months of searching, Linda had no success finding affordable housing that would work with her credit issues. To make matters worse, Linda was notified that Danasia’s disability assistance was going to be cut off. In June 2015, Linda was on her way to work and began talking to a woman on the bus about her struggles. The lady was a current client of the Home for Good Program and gave her the United Way of Greater Williamsburg number to call.
Linda called United Way and applied for the permanent housing Home for Good Program.
With the support of United Way, Linda and her daughter now live in a home with a yard for Danasia to play in. Linda’s case manager helps her stabilize her finances and provides her with the tools and resources to secure healthy food and appropriate medical care for her daughter. Linda has been working as a full time Certified Nurses Assistance (CNA) for the past 7 years but after watching her daughter struggle with her disease she was inspired to go back to school to become a Register Nurse (RN) to provide better care for her daughter and other kids like her while continuing to work full time.
When asked what they were looking forward to the most about being in a house and out of the motel, Linda replied, “Cooking and not eating microwavable meals anymore since there is no stove or oven in the motel room.”