Beginning at an early age, the odds were stacked against both Laurie and Nathan. Despite both of them being born in White Mountain, Alaska, a native community of 200, located 77 miles from Nome on the eastern bank of the Fish River, it wasn’t until they were teenagers and living in Nome that they had a real conversation.

When Nathan was eighteen, he moved from White Mountain to Nome, a city with slightly more opportunity and community – unfortunately, he found a heavy drinking culture and people who weren’t welcoming to outsiders. Depressed, impoverished and often drunk, Nathan made a series of poor decisions: he wrote thirty-five checks that bounced, each defined under the law as a misdemeanor. Each misdemeanor could have meant six months of prison time – or seventeen years total – so Nathan decided to take a deal, a felony charge with a two-year sentencing maximum. What he didn’t realize at the time was that having a felony charge would make getting and keeping a job incredibly difficult.

His criminal record meant jobs in the food service industry were limited and he could no longer be a waiter. He had to learn a new trade and became a carpenter.

Unfortunately, his carpentry career was short-lived: after two and half years he was in a car wreck and broke his back. Things that were once simple carpentry tasks became difficult and painful. To numb the pain, Nathan started drinking again. Life was looking pretty bleak until he met Laurie who has also moved to Nome to escape her family, and they fell in love. They shared a history – their village, absent parents who drank too much, and a desire to feel less lost and alone.

Soon after, they had their first child and they stopped drinking. “I had someone to live with, someone to live for,” Nathan says. “That’s what made the difference for me. Having someone who loved me just as I was.” Things were looking up and the couple was truly happy. Over the next few years, Laurie gave birth to five more healthy children.

Devastatingly, the couple’s woes weren’t over yet. A year ago, they discovered that their eldest daughter Clara (age six) had cancer. In order to provide her with the best medical attention possible, they decided to move to Anchorage. Making ends meet in the city was challenging. Nathan’s skills as a carpenter had become limited due to his injuries and Laurie suffers from schizophrenia. With six children to feed and house, and rising medical costs, the couple was in a very tough spot. They called Alaska 2-1-1 who suggested they try the Salvation Army’s McKinnell House as a temporary fix.

“We needed housing. Somewhere with a roof and a room, somewhere we could call home for a little while,” explains Nathan. “And that’s exactly what it was, our kids were calling it home. And then on top of housing, we couldn’t feed all of our six kids. McKinnell provided us with breakfast and dinner every day, Sundays and holidays included. So all we had to do was get lunch and snacks for the whole month.”

Once at McKinnell, the two were able to find the resources and assistance that would help them find a permanent home quickly. Nathan explains that it was a revelation to him that the resources he and his family needed were there, it was just a matter of knowing where to look. They were able to apply and get accepted for a Tenant-Based Rental Assistance program at a local nonprofit, NeighborWorks, that is paying their rent for a year. Laurie says she is blown away by how beautiful their new home is.

“We have a playground out there, and a private tree house” she says, pointing out at their expansive yard. “And there are two crab apple trees. And it’s all on a big huge lot,” she says, smiling as her son sleeps quietly in her arms.

Right now, Nathan and Laurie are focused on getting their daughter well again. Having a stable home and people to turn to if life becomes difficult to manage is currently making all the difference.

They had just enough savings to cover the security deposit and first and last months’ rent. They also had faith that everything would work out in the end. So when Ron’s disability got bad enough that it became crucial for him to be in a larger city where he would have access to top-notch medical specialists, Ron and Rachel decided to move from their hometown of Juneau to Anchorage. With trepidation, they packed up their belongings and their three teenage sons, having found an affordable apartment online that was being held for them.

When they reached their new home, they made the frightening discovery that the apartment was not what it had seemed online. Dirty and unsafe, the place was not livable and nothing like the photos. Rachel remembers the sinking feeling in her stomach as they drove away from the place they had put their faith in. A single night in a motel cut into their savings. They found themselves confronting the terrible reality of being alone in a new city with no place to go.

They called Alaska 2-1-1, who referred them to Salvation Army’s McKinnell House. “Realizing that a shelter was our family’s only option was mentally very hard,” Ron explained. “I had never been in one before and had a very bad concept about them.” Once at McKinnell though, both reported feeling “extremely humbled and extremely safe.” The family recounted that when they arrived, they received small basic things that they couldn’t afford, but that made such a difference: towels, toothbrushes, toothpaste, soap. And they received classes on financial management and help to set up doctors’ appointments.

Most importantly, they prioritized getting a home. Ron, Rachel and their three sons have now been safely housed for three months and the boys are stable in school. “My kids know that we fully expect them to attend college,” Rachel says, “and I think what they went through this summer was a wake-up call about the importance of getting a good education to make sure nothing like this ever happens to them.”