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The Millers had been struggling for some time. Their granddaughter had been born severely pre-mature, weighing just 1 ½ pounds, and still had chronic heart and respiratory problems. While Medicaid covered the cost of her frequent hospitalizations, caring for their granddaughter meant that it was impossible for their daughter to hold a job. Still, the family was getting by. Finances were difficult, but both Mr. & Mrs. Miller had good jobs and the family was managing to make ends meet.
 Then disaster struck: their car broke down. They had no money to fix it and there was no way for them to get to work. First, Mr. Miller lost his job. Then, Mrs. Miller lost her job. Their savings were quickly exhausted and they were forced to move into a homeless shelter.
After several months in the shelter, the Miller family was able to find affordable housing in Alexandria. But when the family left the shelter, they had no food, no furniture and very little clothing. Mr. and Mrs. Miller were still unemployed and did not have reliable transportation. Fairfax County's Coordinated Services Planning (CSP) referred the family to UCM in December of 2010. UCM was able to provide them with emergency food and vouchers to obtain clothing and furniture from UCM's thrift store. In addition, UCM provided them with ra eferral to its Workforce Development Center to help them find employment.
In just over a month, the Millers have made tremendous progress towards becoming stable. While they still utilize UCM for food assistance, Mrs. Miller has found permanent employment and Mr. Miller continues to go to the Workforce Development Center for his job search. They are optimistic about their future and determined to continue on the road to stability and success. | 
