Meet Maria

Maria remembers standing on the sidewalk outside of the Archways Santa Ana construction site, watching the walls of the new building go up. She turned to her roommate and said, “Wouldn’t it be nice if we lived in there?” She had no idea that a few years later, she would.

For Maria, moving into Archways in November 2024 was the result of years of perseverance. A young mother navigating life after foster care, she was pregnant and working two jobs just to make ends meet, never with a stable place to call home. When the weight of it all became too much, she sought help and entered Casa de Rosemary, a transitional shelter in Cypress for single mothers, where she arrived with her five-month-old daughter in tow. It was there that her caseworker gathered a group of young mothers and former foster youth with a simple invitation: let’s fill out a housing application. Maria was selected and just like that, she was home.

Moving into Archways didn’t just give Maria and her daughter a place to sleep. It gave them stability they had never known.

“One minute I was in a small little room with really bad humidity and possibly even mold. And the next minute I’m in a unit with my daughter and she has her own restroom, she has a bed with me, we have a living room, we have necessities, we get provided foods and services. It’s not just me handling it on my own…that’s what I’m most thankful for.”

That support network has been transformative. Through on-site services from Mercy House and Telecare, Maria has had access to caseworkers, mental health support, community events, and something as fundamental as groceries when she first arrived with nothing in the refrigerator.

The sense of community has mattered too. As a single mother, Maria shared that it can be easy to feel alone. But at Archways, Maria has neighbors, case managers, and a team of people she can turn to.

“I have people, I have networking, I have case workers here on site who will do anything to help me out, whatever situation I got myself in.”

Maria speaks about being the first in her family to break out of a cycle of homelessness and instability. With stable housing now as her foundation, she is pursuing her dream of becoming a nurse. Her daughter has a safe, clean home. And the young woman who once watched Archways being built from the outside now calls it home, just like she always hoped.