{"id":2560,"date":"2025-12-18T16:57:48","date_gmt":"2025-12-18T16:57:48","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.bowery.org\/updates\/?p=2560"},"modified":"2026-01-23T21:28:15","modified_gmt":"2026-01-23T21:28:15","slug":"maurices-hope-story","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.bowery.org\/updates\/2025\/12\/maurices-hope-story\/","title":{"rendered":"Maurice\u2019s hope story: “The Bowery Mission gave me my life back\u201d"},"content":{"rendered":"
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Through the Mission\u2019s emergency shelter and Residential Program, Maurice found stability in his relationships, finances and spiritual life.<\/h2>\n\n\n\n

Maurice\u2019s life felt like a roller coaster, filled with highs and lows. His parents split up before he was born, and he moved around a lot as a child. He struggled to find stability, first with college and then with jobs. Still, he felt fortunate for his upbringing \u2014 he was close with his parents and extended family.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

He had hoped to find stability in his relationship with his longtime friend-turned-girlfriend. They built a life together, eventually sharing a home and starting a family. But unfortunately, this didn\u2019t last. Over the years, conflict came to define their relationship, which sadly came to an end during the pandemic.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Maurice\u2019s life fell into decline. He moved in with his mother and struggled to hold a job. Just about every dollar he earned went to his mother and his children. \u201cI always try to look out for the people around me first,\u201d says Maurice. And when his mom lost the house, he found himself facing homelessness. \u201cI was at the end of losing literally every single support system. I lost all my possessions, my family fell apart, and my relationships with my siblings and my friends got so strained at that point. There was nobody that I could lean on but Jesus.\u201d <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Finding hope at rock bottom<\/h3>\n\n\n\n

A social worker referred him to The Bowery Mission. Maurice remembers the first night he stayed at the Mission\u2019s emergency shelter at 90 Lafayette Street: \u201cI had done community work before, and worked with less fortunate people, but now I\u2019m on the other side of the glass, which is daunting. I [was] trying very hard to wrap my head around the fact that this is where my life is now.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cI had all my possessions in a rolling suitcase,\u201d he says, \u201cand that\u2019s when it hit me: Man, you\u2019ve hit rock bottom<\/em>.” But, he also remembers being so grateful for the fact that The Bowery Mission was there.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"Maurice<\/figure>\n\n\n\n

Maurice came to the Mission for meals and emergency shelter. But he knew early on that this would be temporary. He embraced recovery and leaned into every resource that the Mission had to offer. He especially enjoyed chapel and getting to know Pastor Jason. \u201cI could just tell that this was a man who was very much dedicated to what he was doing,\u201d he shares.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

At the same time, Maurice was still able to stay involved in his children\u2019s lives. In the afternoons, he would walk from the Mission to the Staten Island Ferry, pick his son up from school and spend time with him, then return to his bed at the Mission in the evening.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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\u201cThe way that things were working out, you just see God\u2019s hand [over everything].\u201d \u2014 Maurice<\/em><\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n\n\n\n

Achieving stability<\/h3>\n\n\n\n

After a month, Maurice joined our Residential Program. He\u2019s very grateful for his counselor, Jose. He explains, \u201cI know God brought Jose into my life. He\u2019s always been my greatest advocate, my greatest friend here.\u201d Jose helped Maurice through times when his faith was tested the hardest.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The Mission\u2019s clinical team worked to help him address and heal from past trauma. \u201cIt\u2019s dialed down so much anxiety for me. I\u2019ve always had kind of like an underlying anxiety. [I didn\u2019t] have the ability to control the environment around [me]. I feel like now I have the ability to manage my environment and my situations and my own life today.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Maurice also enjoyed the camaraderie within the community. He openly shared his testimony and spoke about his faith and relationship with Jesus. Through classes and transformative community, day by day, Maurice grew in faith and rebuilt his life. He graduated from our program after eight months. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"Maurice<\/figure>\n\n\n\n

He beams, \u201cCompared to life before the Mission, I have a stable job now and I have not only money in my pocket, but I have the stability of knowing where my next paycheck is coming from. And I have Jesus at the forefront.\u201d <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Thanks to the love and encouragement that friends like you made possible, Maurice has found the stability he has long sought \u2014 with his job, housing and relationship with his children. He\u2019s very grateful for the Mission and for kind supporters like you who made his healing journey possible. \u201cThis is God\u2019s work,\u201d he says. \u201cThe Bowery Mission literally gave me my life back.\u201d<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

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