Nettie: A mom with a plan

Six months ago, Nettie Snyder, her partner, Jaden, and five kids piled into a U-Haul, leaving North Carolina and heading back to Baltimore with little more than their clothes. She was a mother on a mission to reunite her family.

“My seven-year-old daughter is in foster care, and I couldn’t keep fighting for her from another state,” Nettie says.

Nettie’s plan to get her daughter back included the basic things any family needs: a stable home, steady income and a network of care and support. To her, the first step of her plan was obvious; she’d return to the place that helped her years ago.

“I came to Health Care for the Homeless,” she says. “I know I can get all my needs met: primary care, therapy, it’s a one-stop shop. And having a respected place helping me also means a lot to the social workers handling my daughter’s case.”

Sometimes homelessness feels like an intractable problem. Yet thousands of people see us for less than a year - getting the support they need to meet their goals and find stability. Nettie is on her way. “She was so motivated when she got here,” says her case manager LaTasha Rogers. “She went out and quickly found an apartment.”

And in the months since, she has developed a trusting rapport with her therapist, Lydia Santiago, LCSW-C, who helps her cope with trauma from her past and the stress of parenthood without a stable home. Nettie has gotten her youngest child a check-up from Dr. Iris Leviner at our pediatric clinic and encouraged Jaden to get care here, too.

Nettie and her family have settled in their new place. Her plan is coming to fruition, and she’s hopeful an upcoming custody resolution will finally bring her daughter home.

Know someone like Nettie whose plan includes stable housing and health care? Refer them to our services here.