Our Impact: Stories

“I enjoy my life for the first time in years; just a normal life of being clean and sober.” Karen Wilson “I was a disaster case,” Karen Wilson says of her former life as a drug addict. “If you saw me then and see me now, total and complete change.” Becoming a disaster case was, however, a dramatic change itself for the Louisiana woman who describes her teenage years in a “very good, upper-middle-class family” where the father was a supervisor in construction. At 15, Karen found herself facing peer pressure at school that tumbled out of control when public…

“The Resolana program will lead you where you need to go.” Debra Bea McCarthy Lifelong Dallas-area resident Debra Bea McCarthy stays busy with her work for Amazon, completing her fifth year with the company as a trainer for Amazon van drivers. She’s the mother of five adult children and she and her husband enjoy their home in Lancaster. And she sings in the Living Sound Choir at Inspiring Body of Christ Church. Her life today is, however, a complete turnaround from her youth. She had a turbulent early start with an abusive, alcoholic mother. After her parents divorced, Child Protective Services…

“If I didn’t choose Resolana, I would probably be dead.” Getting lost in the system is the last thing a prisoner in jail would want to experience. But for Danielle Keath, getting lost in the Dallas County Jail system meant getting found—and changed—through Resolana, the trauma and addiction treatment program run by Volunteers of America Texas. By all accounts, Danielle was responsible. She grew up in Phoenix and got a full-time job the day she turned 16. Weekends were party time with family, alcohol included. It wasn’t uncommon, she says, to have a beer with her mother over the conversation….

“We can’t keep what we have until we give it away. I feel most close to God when I’m helping someone.” Business owner Michelle Deskeere stays busy. Her landscaping and lawn maintenance business is thriving. She loves the work and gets to lend a helping hand to some of her older clientele. She has a family including her parents, a brother, and her pride and joy: three sons. One is a 22-year-old Arlington city firefighter. Another is 16 and has made incredible strides with his high-functioning autism. Her eight-year-old is in gifted and talented classes. Her life and family represent…

“Resolana is a lifelong connection for women.” Michelle Deskeree Business owner Michelle Deskeere stays busy. Her landscaping and lawn maintenance business is thriving. She loves the work and gets to lend a helping hand to some of her older clientele. She has a family including her parents, a brother, and her pride and joy: three sons. One is a 22-year-old Arlington city firefighter. Another is 16 and has made incredible strides with his high-functioning autism. Her eight-year-old is in gifted and talented classes. Her life and family represent independence and stability to Michelle, two things that once seemed unreachable. As…

A failing transmission and unreliable transportation made it nearly impossible for Sara Alonso to get to work and transport her three children back and forth to school.  After almost being stranded several times, Sara desperately needed a new vehicle; without it, she could lose her job and, most importantly, her independence. A recent partnership with Volunteers of America Texas allows our Permanent Supportive Housing participants to own a reliable vehicle.  Fellow nonprofit God’s Garage serves single mothers, widows and wives of deployed service members throughout the more excellent Houston and Conroe areas.  “I would like to Thank God for VOA…

Being homeless and alone was a circumstance that had never crossed U.S. Army veteran Brenda Tolliver’s mind. An ambitious self-starter, the native of Memphis, Tennessee began pursuing her dreams fresh out of high school. She would join the Army and then use G.I. Bill benefits for college and the law degree she wanted. And so, from 1990-1992, Brenda became one of the soldiers serving through operations Desert Storm and Desert Shield. Her service unfortunately left her disabled from Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder but not even that stopped her forward progress. She came home to Tennessee, accessed her benefits and earned an…

Two decisions. One to tell the truth and ask for help. The other is to say “no” to living at an address too close to trouble. Between making those two right decisions on his own and discovering a helping hand from Volunteers of America Texas, William’s life now is as different from what it used to be as the proverbial night and day. William grew up in Detroit. After his father died when he was in the seventh grade, he hung out with the motorcycle group his father had been a part of. It was, he said, the “tough side…

Hallmark’s made-for-TV romances have nothing on the real-life story of Eligio “Eli” Lujan and his wife, Ligia Chaparro-Torres. Their storybook tale includes a beautiful foreign locale, a happenstance meeting, an instant connection, and a second chance at love. And while the connection was immediate, it took a bit of time for love to grow, another common theme in the better-known world of fantasy films. Eli and Ligia are residents at the Carver Plaza Apartments in Abilene, one of several senior citizen residential communities operated in Texas by Volunteers of America Texas. Recently, Eli and Ligia sat down with VOA Texas…

VOA Texas Minister, Tim Lloyd (pictured right) serves full time as the agency’s Housing Support Manager. Day in and day out, he helps people in Conroe, Texas find safe, affordable housing through the organization’s Permanent and Supportive Housing (PSH) Program. One Saturday in April, he and his wife Becky found themselves on the doorstep of a home he had recently helped a client to acquire. Days before, the client, who wishes to remain anonymous, asked Tim to bless the property to establish a sense of peace and tranquility over the new space. Being a domestic violence survivor, the idea of…