On December 1, Letty Massoyan, a community manager for National CORE, handed Veronica the keys to her new apartment home at River Canyon in Cathedral City and said, “welcome home.” After months of struggling, Veronica, a single mother of two boys, 12 and 13, started to cry and gave Letty a big hug, quickly apologizing for the show of emotion. It was the first time Veronica had seen the apartment, commenting, “it is so beautiful. I cannot wait to tell my boys that we have a home!”

For months, she had been couch-surfing, finally moving into a room at a friend’s house. Veronica had slept in a closet, giving the boys the room. To support her family, she had to work two jobs but still found time between shifts to help her boys with schoolwork and distance learning.

Veronica’s situation had drastically changed a year ago. She had been a stay-at-home mom, happily married, living in a beautiful home. Returning from a trip to Mexico, Veronica found that her husband had sold their house, filed for divorce, and had left her and the boys homeless.

Having never worked, she started her own business, cleaning hospitals, rehab centers, and homes. To supplement her income, she worked nights at Ralph’s stocking shelves, making it convenient for her to purchase groceries daily since the one-room where she and the boys had been living did not include access to a kitchen.

“It made me so happy to be able to help,” said Letty. “I am blessed to work for an organization that provides housing to individuals like Veronica. We truly change lives.”