“This is a stepping stone to one day owning my own home.”

Meet Johnesha.

Johnesha is a bright, ambitious woman. She currently works for a city health agency in data management.

Johnesha is one of the first families housed in a New Lease unit. “I love it. It’s warm, comfortable, and my baby has a home.”

She and her newborn son found themselves homeless in late 2012 due to overcrowding in her family’s home. Due to extremely high market rents, they landed in a Boston shelter where she received housing search and self-sufficiency services.  About a year later, her name came to the top of a New Lease list; she moved in within a month.  Other housing lists she had applied to estimated her wait to be several years.

Johnesha’s ambition has only increased since moving into her new home. She has set her sights on becoming a Certified Nurse Assistant and owning her own home.