Britney has an infectious smile. Her warmth fills up the room and it’s almost like you can feel the hope that’s bubbling inside her. Even when she and her four-year-old son Mason were bouncing around between different family member’s homes, and later living in a shelter, she remained optimistic. “I didn’t know how long it would take,” she said. “But I knew eventually I would be back in my own home again.”

Two years ago, Britney was laid off from the mortgage company where she worked. She and Mason were evicted from their apartment and stayed with numerous family members in North Carolina before she decided to move back to Baltimore and into the shelter at Baltimore Outreach Services. She admits that life in a shelter is hard, especially with a young child—strict schedules and lots of personalities all together in one room. But she was determined to get back on her feet, so she got herself organized and took whatever steps she could to get herself and Mason into a home of their own.

One of those steps involved making sure that she and Mason were healthy. So when Amber Richert, a family nurse practitioner at Health Care for the Homeless, came to the shelter to do outreach, Britney took advantage of the opportunity. Britney was most concerned with Mason and his well-being but felt comfortable enough with Amber to see her for her own health care needs, as well. And after three short months at the shelter, Britney and Mason moved into a transitional housing program. Britney expected to be there for two years but began looking for a home of her own just two months after leaving the shelter.

Britney now has a place to call home: her own apartment in Northwest Baltimore with a room especially for Mason and a park for him to play in just three blocks away. Mason’s excelling in school and Britney started a full-time job as an intake specialist at the Office of Child Support Enforcement early this year. Britney is so proud of how far they’ve come, but now she’s focused on the future: she’s getting Mason ready for kindergarten and is toying with the idea of going back to school herself for some IT training. She knows it won’t be easy, but plans to just keep on putting one foot in front of the other until she gets to where she wants to be.