Sarah and her family live at East Metro Place, a transitional housing program at Solid Ground.
When she was just nineteen, Sarah lost her mother in 2010 to an overdose. She started to spiral herself, got into bad relationships and that’s when she found drugs that, as she said, “took her on a bad path.”
In 2020, Sarah decided that she “had had enough of the streets”, and that it was time to get her life right. She got herself into a treatment program and has been sober since then. In treatment, Sarah found Mother’s First, a program through Ramsey County that provides support to families for sober pregnancies and assists women struggling with substance use. Mother’s First referred Sarah to Solid Ground. Sarah said “one of the biggest benefits to my recovery and what helped me stay on the right path has been Solid Ground. Being in safe housing while I got stable, made all the difference.”
When Sarah and her family came to Solid Ground, they received a welcome pack with household essentials “that was just awesome – it was everything we needed.” Most families that come to Solid Ground have very little, and Solid Ground donors, volunteers, and staff make sure each family has what they need to make their house a home.
Sarah says “Without the housing stability, I wouldn’t be able to be successful in my other areas of life. It was what made my family see a change in me. I’m still working to rebuild trust with my family, but we are getting there… I’m going to Century College to get my Licensed Alcohol and Drug Counseling degree because it lets me put my recovery first. I want to put a stop to our generational trauma. Now I feel like I’m ready to take on the world – yes slowly – but with the resources that Solid Ground has given me and my family, I definitely feel like the sky is the limit. I’m really excited to have my own home one day.”
2023 Statistics
- East Metro Place I provides 20 units of transitional housing, located near Century College in White Bear Lake. All units receive project-based Section 8 rental assistance to make the housing affordable to families with very low incomes.
- In 2022, the program served 92 adults and children (24 families).