Kelley ­— “I’m Building a Future I Didn’t Think Possible”

“Everything I do is for my kids,” Kelley says. “They give me hope.”

Kelley grew up in a household where family was everything — and losing it would define the years that followed. As a teenager, her life was already changing. “I became pregnant and started preparing to become a mother while I was still relying on my own mom,” she says.

While she was pregnant with her first child, Kelley lost her father. A couple of years later, during her second pregnancy, her mother passed away. “It was a lot to deal with all at once,” Kelley says. “I didn’t have time to process anything. I just had to keep moving forward.”

In the years that followed, Kelley focused on providing for her children. But stability proved elusive. Soon after she moved in with her then boyfriend, the relationship became unsafe, and she was faced with a difficult choice. “I had to leave to protect myself and my kids,” she says. “For the first time, I was without housing.”

In need of support, Kelley turned to Pine Street Inn while her kids stayed with their father. “The first few weeks in shelter were difficult, but now it feels like I have a family here,” she smiles. With the help of staff, she began exploring opportunities to build a more stable future. One of those opportunities was iCater, Pine Street’s culinary job training program.

“I always enjoyed cooking, but never thought it could be something more,” Kelley says. Through iCater, she’s learning food preparation techniques, budgeting and teamwork. She lights up when talking about her fellow trainees and instructor, Ariella Amshalem. “We’ve got each other’s backs,” she shares. “We have fun but also get our work done.”

Today, Kelley is working toward housing and hopes to continue in the food services field. “I’m building a future for myself and my kids that I didn’t think was possible,” she says. “I have Pine Street to thank for that.”