INDIANAPOLIS — What goes on inside a near east side Outreach for Homeless Youth Center has become part of a life mission for an Indianapolis mother to young children.
You can find Kendra Hathaway at the Outreach center when she's not taking care of her son and daughter. Hathaway is one of the intake workers who help monitor the services at the center.
"We serve meals throughout the day, we have laundry facilities, the chapel which is sometimes a quiet place," Hathaway said.
Kendra has a personal connection to Outreach.
"I was living in my car with my kids. Yeah, that was scary. We were leaving a domestic violence situation and we were trying to find some solidness and that put me in a homeless situation," Hathaway said.
Her homeless situation took several turns. She gives Outreach much of the credit for helping end her homelessness.
"I was living in Wheeler Mission and this place got me in Wheeler Mission," Hathaway said.
So it's no wonder that Hathaway and her three-year-old got to do a ribbon-cutting for one of the biggest expansions ever to help fight homelessness in the city of Indianapolis. The invite and the event itself left Hathaway without words.
"It was beautiful," Hathaway said. "I am speechless. I am still speechless."
Hathaway joined city leaders for a $14.8 million expansion of the Wheeler Mission Center for Women & Children. It doubles the space for housing and services for families experiencing homelessness as she did. That's one more reason her mission now at Outreach is to match homeless young people with the services they need and help them experience the same new lease on life.
"I feel like a completely different person," Hathaway said. "Everyone's story about how they became homeless is important because it's what not only got them there, but it's also what can help them move forward."
Now, her mission is to help give hope to homeless young people. She is grateful to be a part of making sure our city can help more women just like her.
The Wheeler Mission Center for Women & Children has served the Indianapolis community since 1893. The operating costs have been covered by private donations without using any government funds.