Jennifer was 20 years old when she interviewed with us in June 2004. She cried during her entire interview. It was hard for her to tell us her story and she didn’t want to get her hopes up.

Jennifer’s childhood was tough – her home life suf-fered from substance abuse. By the time she was a teen, she was making dangerous choices herself, many she regrets to this day. By the time we met Jennifer, she had a 4-month old son, Anthony, and had given up her “old life” when she found out she was pregnant with him.

Jennifer has had the courage to face herself, her challenges, and her fears and move forward no matter what the struggle may entail. She’s very intelligent and we wouldn’t be surprised at all if she achieves her ultimate goal of a degree in pharmacy. She's already made a good start toward this by completing her studies at Pinellas Technical Education Center with certification as a Pharmacy Technician. Jennifer now works in her field at St. Anthony's Health Care while she continues her studies at St. Petersburg College.

After a year, we asked Jennifer to write down what she thought she had accomplished since July 23, 2004, her date of entry into Resurrection House. Here is an excerpt from that list of 100 items of accomplishments:

• Getting into Resurrection House.

• Finally settling to a better daycare.

• Losing 35 lb.

• Paying off Capital One card.

• Paying Alltel cell bill.

• Paying off Bright House/TimeWarner bill.

• Paying off Verizon home phone bill.

• Earning first-aid certification.

• Taking classes about infant care at Catholic Charities.

• Got teeth professionally cleaned for the first time.

• Went to WorkNet and saved a TON of money with gas cards. Saved the most money I’ve ever saved in my entire life (but I still have more to go …)

• Got community voice mail.

• Learned about discipline in all aspects of my life (parenting, budgeting, etc.)

• When I worked at SDP, made the highest sales for 2 weeks.

• Earned approximately $1600 in Youth Skills checks.

• Got a dirt-cheap membership to YMCA.

• Got “model unit” inspection results every month since I moved into Resurrection House.

• Moved to bi-monthly inspections after 8½ months.

• Learned to apologize (and take responsibility for my actions).

• I got saved.

• Donated blood 4 times.

• Getting a little better at constructive criticism.

• Saw what it is like at a Jewish synagogue (courtesy of Shelley.)

• Learned about slavery – more than in school (courtesy of Crystal.)

• Still learning to SIT, STOP, THINK (courtesy of Julie.)

• Found resources for everything I need to survive. Just need to utilize all of the above!

• Getting better at time management.

• Got way better in math (courtesy of PTEC.)

• Getting along better with my family.

To be continued...