Cheryl has called Ventura County home for more than three decades. A single mother of three, her home was always alive with the energy of her children and their neighborhood friends who gathered there regularly, finding a safe place to hangout in her living room.
Diagnosed with a disability at 23, Cheryl found creative ways to support her family. With limited income but boundless imagination, she began sewing costumes for her children, and soon she was making them for the whole community. Whether for church, for a theater program, or for a school play, Cheryl became the neighborhood go-to for quality costumes made by hand.
But when the pandemic hit, Cheryl’s disability income was no longer enough to cover rent. As the cost of living soared, she could no longer afford the condo she had called home for 29 years, the same home where she had raised her three children.
Determined to stay in the community she’d built her life around, Cheryl reached out to Ventura Housing. For the first time in a long time, she felt hopeful.
Today, Cheryl and her dog have a new place to call home at Valentine Road Apartments; still in Ventura County and still surrounded by the community she loves.