O’Malley and her 4-year old daughter currently live at Dignity II.  They have come a long way since entering the program last April.  With the help of her case manager  and Dignity’s Education and Life Skills Scholarship Fund, O’Malley graduated from the Thompson Institute with a degree in Dental Assistance. After completing a required externship within her educational program, she secured a position in one of Philadelphia’s periodontal offices.  While she admits adjusting to school work and challenging class schedules was difficult, she now wants “to learn everything" about dentistry.

Initially, O’Malley resisted some of Dignity II’s highly structured program requirements, but soon she realized that change was needed and began to keep an open mind about the program and the services it offered. Today, she is excited to be able to provide for her daughter and maintain a savings account. O’Malley credits a large portion of her self-development to the one-on-one case management and counseling provided by Dignity’s programs.

Her daughter is now attending pre-school and has also grown throughout their stay at Dignity II, developing better listening skills and feeling secure in their living environment.  O’Malley says she’s learned “how to be a better parent" and is glad her daughter is able to depend on her.

Having experienced homelessness, O’Malley states the hardest part of overcoming its barriers is finding a place that will provide encouragement, assistance and an opportunity to “build yourself."

She is thankful to have found Dignity and believes that without the program she couldn’t have achieved her professional success and stability.  She  advises those still struggling with the difficulties of homelessness and substance abuse to realize a better way of living exists, and that help is available. “One person helping one person can help a generation," she said.