By Charlene Welch, Council for the Homeless

Goodbye Washington. Hello Idaho. This week the Cycling Across America team passes the 500 mile marker on their way to 4000 miles from Seaside to Boston! They leave Washington on May 14 and cross into Idaho. My legs get tired just thinking about the physical and mental test of this ride.

However, David, Lilly, Edward, and Solange will tell you families experiencing homelessness face hard tests of their own.  The team is riding to raise awareness that homelessness can happen to anyone and effects children especially hard. Jeff and Nikki never expected to be homeless with their three children. They lost virtually all their possessions when a roommate took advantage of their living situation. The children were eight, three, and one year old at the time. “The hardest thing was splitting up to find places to sleep,” shares Nikki. “Sometimes the kids would be with my mom, and Jeff and I camped because we didn’t want her landlord to see too many people in her apartment.”  Jeff continued to work as a cook.

After five months of being outside and “couch surfing” when possible, the tide turned. “For the first time in a long time things went our way,” Nikki says with a smile. “Council for the Homeless helped us talk to landlords and one said they would work with us.” CFTH also paid the family’s move in costs, and the school assisted with the first month of rent. Jeff describes the time as “super emotional,” and it took a while to sink in. Now, they have hopes of decorating the kids’ bedrooms and giving them the stability every parent wants to give their children. Eventually Nikki wants to return to school to work in a veterinary practice.

One of the best things about their new home is the apartment community’s large fenced backyard with this powerful tree standing tall in the middle. Jeff said the scene was magical during last winter’s snow. “We played outside and then came inside to warm up. Just like regular with our own home.”

You can show your support for the Cycling Across America team and their leg-burning mission to end homelessness for other families like Jeff and Nikki’s. To celebrate the team’s 500-mile marker, we hope you will help us raise $500.00.

Donate today at our secure donation portal at HERE!.

Thank you for making home possible!