Success Story

Aroura is a single mom who spent ten years in service to her country as a soldier in the United States Army. Raised in New Jersey by her father, a 32 year military veteran, Aroura was taught the importance of serving your country to protect the freedoms that are often taken for granted.

After spending three years in Wisconsin finishing her military service, Aroura chose to move to Maryland in pursuit of employment with her two daughters, ages 12 and 7. Upon arriving at her apartment in Baltimore, it immediately became clear that she had been taken advantage of by a scam. She had pre-paid for tenant-ready housing that was anything but 'ready'. "As I looked at the building we were ready to move into, there were no windows, walls, floors, or even a roof. I was devastated," she recalled in a soft voice, the sadness of that moment visible on her face.

On a given night, nearly 70,000 former service men and women are homeless, five percent of which, like Aroura, are women veterans. "Even with my military background, becoming homeless and losing control over our lives was horrifying - especially having children," said Aroura. "I had worked so hard to support my children, and in a blink of an eye, we were without a home." 

Once Aroura and her daughters were safe at Sarah's Hope, her military instincts took over. She immediately developed a plan and set her goals. With the help of Sarah's Hope staff, she was able to begin her search for stable employment and locate resources available to her as a veteran. Aroura was soon hired at a local art gallery as a security guard, and now awaits her security clearance to become a corrections officer in Baltimore County.