Our Stories
Meet Jessica
Jessica grew up in a single-parent home in northeast Rochester, with a mother who held down two jobs while trying to hold together her family of five. By the time Jessica was school age, her two older brothers were gone—one incarcerated, the other sent to a residential home for troubled children. Jessica essentially became a mom figure to her younger brother.
Meet Dean
After Dean settled in Rochester nearly 20 years ago, he worked hard to establish his own business. He enjoyed a comfortable suburban lifestyle with his wife and three daughters and was proud of how far he had come after growing up in a complicated home environment in South Africa with a father who worked tirelessly to make ends meet.
Dean thought that things were going well because, just as his father had worked hard to provide for him, he now was doing the same for his own family. But Dean took his comforts and life for granted; and over time, he lost everything.
Meet Carl
Meet Stephanie
Meet Lori
Lori spent her days running through the woods and swimming in the creek while growing up the youngest of five on the rural west side of Monroe County. For years her talent and love for singing would take her all over the state performing at festivals, sporting events, and weddings. Becoming a mom to her oldest son Donovan was a joyous event, and she made caring for him her top priority as developmental delays unfolded. Her son’s father was less engaged.
Meet David
When David moved almost an hour away from Rochester to his girlfriend’s home, he was looking forward to their life together, and to their baby on the way. It turned out to be a chaotic household with toxic extended-family relationships. The situation deteriorated even more after his son was born and David was eventually forced to leave.
“It was such a painful time for me when I had to leave my son. I had nothing and was living outside, and I knew I needed to get back to Rochester,” David said.
A phone call to a friend at the House of Mercy, a Rochester shelter for the homeless, resulted in a bus ticket back home that night, and David’s first steps to getting his son back. But then he contracted COVID-19, which led to a three and a half month stay in the hospital, including one month in a coma.
2023 Impact Report
Whether its new programs, services we provide, success stories and accomplishes, you will find all sorts of ways PCHO impacts our communities. End Homelessness is a paramount goal to PCHO but we are so much more. Our residents and participants rely on us for life saving supplies, advocacy and even support going to the doctors. Check out our impact report today to learn more!