It took Karen six months to show up to her adult education classes at the Martha O’Bryan Center. She was raising three young daughters alone, having just left a relationship where she nearly lost her life in front of them.

“I had hit my lowest point,” Karen remembers. Car repossessed. Eviction notice. A notice from daycare. No job. Not a penny in her pocket. And three little girls counting on her. “What a combination,” she said.

Miss Hope, Karen’s instructor at Martha O’Bryan, refused to let her disappear. She checked in again and again with one consistent message: “I’m ready when you’re ready.”

When Karen started, Miss Hope was there to watch her daughters so she could sit for exams, and Martha O’Bryan connected her to Christmas gifts, the food bank, and diapers during the hardest stretch of her life.

When Karen passed her final exam, Miss Hope asked the question that would define Karen’s future: “So, what’s next?”

This year, Karen launched Dorantes Home Solutions and started with cleaning contracts before growing her new business into renovations, lawn care, and property management. Today she manages a couple hundred units, is developing 12 new units in Lebanon with a partner, and is studying real estate investing with her sights set on owning and managing her own properties.

“I know I cannot lose unless I give up,” she said. “And it is my turn to win.”

Click the image above to watch Karen’s full remarks at our Champions Luncheon. Thanks to donors like you, we create more “I’m ready when you’re ready” moments every day and helping families build life-changing momentum.