MONROE - A Green County mother of four boys had one wish for Christmas this year. And it's about to come true.
Laci Ramsden wanted her family - her sons, Bryce, 10; Carsyn, 9; Reyce, 7; and Presley, 3, and their father Cary Grant - to be together.
"I want us to spend it together, even if there are no gifts and no dinner," she said earlier this week. "I was concerned back in October we'd be separated."
The family will be together, and there will be gifts, a Christmas dinner and a Christmas tree or two - things so many families take for granted - thanks to volunteers in Green County.
Back in October, Ramsden's was one of Green County's many homeless families looking for hope.
Like many homeless families, a series of bad events had caught up with them. In 2007, Grant, a union painter, was laid off, and the couple lost their 11-day-old daughter to meningitis. While Grant was able to find another job in early 2009, health problems hindered his ability to continue his work at a New Glarus factory in September. Ramsden and Grant were unable to pay their rent in late October.
"By Oct. 31, we were out," she said. The family spent the next week in a motel in New Glarus.
Ramsden said she "honestly didn't know" what the holiday season would hold for them.
In their 12 years together, she and Grant had never been in a similar situation before, and family members were not nearby. The only alternative they could see at that time was for Grant to return to his family out of state in hopes of finding a job, while she, with four active boys, moved in with her single sister in a small apartment in Madison.
Fortunately, Green County's Family Promise was just opening up, and Comprehensive Community Services at Green County Human Services directed her to the nonprofit organization. Staffed by local congregations and other community volunteers, Family Promise provides necessities that homeless families need.
Getting back on their feet has been a lot easier with volunteers from Family Promise, Ramsden said.
The boys were able to stay in their schools in New Glarus, with transportation provided by one of the school's teachers. Grant enrolled at Blackhawk Technical College to complete his GED and, meanwhile, volunteers his time and talents at the Family Promise Day Center house in Monroe. And within weeks of coming to Family Promise, Ramsden found a part-time job at Harbor House, a senior care and assisted living home, in Monroe.
Ramsden received her CNA (Certified Nursing Assistant) degree in 2003, but took a break from work after the death of their daughter.
Now, one month into her employment, Ramsden said she "loves" her new job, and often can work up to 39 hours a week.
Her paycheck is not enough to support the whole family, "but we're working toward it," she added.
As part of the Family Promise services, the family is hosted by a Green County church, providing basic overnight care, supper and breakfast, on a rotating basis.
This weekend, the hosting church in Monroe will provide Christmas dinner for the family. Gifts are coming from the host church, a New Glarus church and Monroe Clinic.
The family will spend a quiet Christmas Eve together, with the boys allowed to open one gift, Ramsden said. They will all get up early Christmas Day so she can watch them finish opening gifts.
Then she will go to work.
Ramsden is scheduled to work from 8 a.m. to 1 p.m., but it is the one day she will not ask to work more hours.
"We'll be together," she said, smiling.
Laci Ramsden wanted her family - her sons, Bryce, 10; Carsyn, 9; Reyce, 7; and Presley, 3, and their father Cary Grant - to be together.
"I want us to spend it together, even if there are no gifts and no dinner," she said earlier this week. "I was concerned back in October we'd be separated."
The family will be together, and there will be gifts, a Christmas dinner and a Christmas tree or two - things so many families take for granted - thanks to volunteers in Green County.
Back in October, Ramsden's was one of Green County's many homeless families looking for hope.
Like many homeless families, a series of bad events had caught up with them. In 2007, Grant, a union painter, was laid off, and the couple lost their 11-day-old daughter to meningitis. While Grant was able to find another job in early 2009, health problems hindered his ability to continue his work at a New Glarus factory in September. Ramsden and Grant were unable to pay their rent in late October.
"By Oct. 31, we were out," she said. The family spent the next week in a motel in New Glarus.
Ramsden said she "honestly didn't know" what the holiday season would hold for them.
In their 12 years together, she and Grant had never been in a similar situation before, and family members were not nearby. The only alternative they could see at that time was for Grant to return to his family out of state in hopes of finding a job, while she, with four active boys, moved in with her single sister in a small apartment in Madison.
Fortunately, Green County's Family Promise was just opening up, and Comprehensive Community Services at Green County Human Services directed her to the nonprofit organization. Staffed by local congregations and other community volunteers, Family Promise provides necessities that homeless families need.
Getting back on their feet has been a lot easier with volunteers from Family Promise, Ramsden said.
The boys were able to stay in their schools in New Glarus, with transportation provided by one of the school's teachers. Grant enrolled at Blackhawk Technical College to complete his GED and, meanwhile, volunteers his time and talents at the Family Promise Day Center house in Monroe. And within weeks of coming to Family Promise, Ramsden found a part-time job at Harbor House, a senior care and assisted living home, in Monroe.
Ramsden received her CNA (Certified Nursing Assistant) degree in 2003, but took a break from work after the death of their daughter.
Now, one month into her employment, Ramsden said she "loves" her new job, and often can work up to 39 hours a week.
Her paycheck is not enough to support the whole family, "but we're working toward it," she added.
As part of the Family Promise services, the family is hosted by a Green County church, providing basic overnight care, supper and breakfast, on a rotating basis.
This weekend, the hosting church in Monroe will provide Christmas dinner for the family. Gifts are coming from the host church, a New Glarus church and Monroe Clinic.
The family will spend a quiet Christmas Eve together, with the boys allowed to open one gift, Ramsden said. They will all get up early Christmas Day so she can watch them finish opening gifts.
Then she will go to work.
Ramsden is scheduled to work from 8 a.m. to 1 p.m., but it is the one day she will not ask to work more hours.
"We'll be together," she said, smiling.