Shelter works to break homelessness cycle for young moms

After nearly 30 years, the Gwinnett Children’s Shelter is refocusing its mission to homeless children and their moms.

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“What Gwinnett Children’s Shelter has done by going in this new direction last year was come up with a really forward thinking way to help homeless children and their moms stay together as a family, find out what’s broken and fix it,” said Executive Director Maureen Kornowa.

The program is designed to end the cycle of homelessness for two generations in one shot.

Now, the organization relies entirely on private donations and no longer accepts state funds to shelter teens. Instead, they offer a three to 12 month transitional living program with free room and board, along with life skills training for young moms like Natalie Perez.

“For me, living in a shelter, initially [I] thought, hitting rock bottom, and there was a lot of pride to swallow,” Perez said.

The young mom says she struggled to juggle appointments for her young, medically fragile son with a safe day care experience and her job. She began house hopping as a newly single mom, staying with family and friends until she had nowhere else to go.

She says the shelter gave her the extra “umph” she needed to get on a path to success.

“When you have a support system that supports you and your journey, I feel like it makes it easier to do things as a mom, to do things you need to do to raise a better child,” Perez said.

She now has her own place with her son, John, and wants to share a clear message with other moms.

“There’s hope when you’re at the bottom. There’s help when you’re at the bottom,” she said. “You can overcome anything you’re going through. It just takes faith and discipline.”

The public is invited to support the Gwinnett Children's Shelter at the Sip and Swine Barbeque Festival March 4 from 3 to 10 p.m. and Saturday, March 5 from 11 a.m. to 5 p.m. at Coolray field in Lawrenceville.

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