It takes a strong person to ask for help
Even when she was living in a car with her then16- and 7-year-old sons, Denise Buchard hesitated to ask for help. Denise, at the time escaping from domestic violence, thought she had let her children down. She didn’t want anyone to know about their admittedly precarious circumstances.
Now, in the second year of her participation in Harford Family House, Denise has an entirely different message for others who may be in the same circumstances: “You have to be honest about your situation and ask for help.”
Denise says that both she and her sons have learned from Harford Family House, among many other things, that there are people in the world who care. Her sons, she adds, now have a deep affection for each staff member. As for Denise, she has taken the support from Harford Family House and started to build a new life. For many years, Denise worked a variety of jobs in retail stores and restaurants. Few were terribly fulfilling. Late last year, with the encouragement of Harford Family House case managers, Denise applied for a job as a residential assistant at The Arc of the Northern Chesapeake Region. She now works there and assists four adults with developmental disabilities to learn daily and community living skills. Now, she has found her niche and plans to continue her education and make a career at the ARC. “I see myself retiring from there,” she says.
Denise looks back on the day that she was accepted into the Harford Family House. She is still amazed at the resources that were available to her, including job help, financial counseling and needed household items. “To have someone care was overwhelming - a good overwhelming. I just took it from there.”
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