Cinita and her mother, Cynthia, first connected with Agate after months of housing instability. Before arriving at Agate’s couples shelter, moved from place to place while trying to find stability.

At Agate, Cynthia was able to connect with the shelter staff and get started on the journey to finding a stable home. Still, Cynthia is clear that even with care, respect, and daily activities, emergency shelter is not easy. The stress and fear linger.

“When you wake up and realize you’re sleeping next to strangers in a strange place, you have to stop and ask yourself if this is real,” Cynthia shared. “Even after you leave, the fear of how easily it could happen again never really goes away.”

Cinita echoed that reality. “I never thought this could happen to us,” she said. “And then it did.” Like so many families, one unexpected disruption led to nearly a year of living in shelters while they worked toward housing.

Today, Cinita and Cynthia are stably housed in their own apartment. With support from Agate’s shelter and housing programs, they were able to move from crisis to stability.

Their journey reflects the purpose of Agate’s work: meeting people where they are, offering the right resources at the right time, and walking alongside them as they rebuild. While the scars of homelessness remain, Cinita and Cynthia are healing, finding hope, and moving forward—together.