The Eleanor Network | Portrait of an Eleanor Woman: Kamilyn Comes from Cara Program

A network of resources to support economic self-sufficiency

So What Happened to Kamilyn?

Kamilyn continues to succeed! Read the inspiring next chapter.

Portrait of an Eleanor Woman: Kamilyn Baskerville

Share |

July 10, 2009

A Rough Road Home
2006 was a rough year for Kamilyn Baskerville. Kamilyn broke off plans to marry, had a death in her family, and decided that she and her children had to leave the lives they loved in Tennessee. With her Army background, a range of skills, and 4.0 grade average, Kamilyn thought she would easily find a job and a home for her family back home in Chicago.

It didn't work out that way. "When I got out of school, I couldn't get a job," recalls Kamilyn. "I didn't know why. I went on a lot of interviews, but no one would hire me."

Kamilyn and her three young children soon found themselves in a homeless shelter in Chicago's Humboldt Park—where, according to LISC Chicago, 97% of local elementary school students are low income and nearly a third of the neighborhood residents live below the poverty line.

A Place to Go. A Program to Rely On.
With no job prospects in sight, Kamilyn needed some guidance. "I could have let depression get me down, but I didn't," recalls Kamilyn. "If you don't give up on yourself, you can find the resources you need."

So Kamilyn asked for help. A Catholic Charities caseworker told her about The Cara Program, a local nonprofit respected for its comprehensive approach to transitioning the homeless into permanent jobs. It wasn't long before Kamilyn found her way to a Cara Program dinner, and connected to the range of services she needed to create a better life for herself and her kids.

That same year, the Eleanor Foundation launched a new hub of services for women through The Cara Program that stretch into multiple communities. To leverage Cara's track record of success, the Foundation committed three years of funding and technical assistance to create new services for lower-income working women: providing them two years of comprehensive training, permanent job placement, mentoring and support that many single working mothers find missing in their lives.

"You have to set an example for your kids," claims Kamilyn. "You're their Spiderman and their Superman. So if they see you defeated, they'll think they can't do anything themselves."

Moving Forward - On The Path to Success
Today, Kamilyn is an example of the success of the Eleanor Foundation's investment in women. Employed as a mail investigator for Pitney Bowes in downtown Chicago, she and her three children—two daughters aged 16 and 12, and a 10-year-old son—now live in a four-bedroom apartment on the city's north side, made available through a partnership between the Eleanor Foundation and the Chicago Low-Income Housing Trust Fund.

"The Eleanor Foundation helped me to get where I am now: working, a better place, living in a better area," explains Kamilyn. "I'm even doing better at my job because you know, I was a little stressed, a little frustrated. It seemed like a whole load on me lifted off." Single-mom Kamilyn is working full-time, raising her children, and working toward a four-year college degree in accounting. She's also started writing again—a childhood passion of hers—through a program at the Neighborhood Writing Alliance, another Eleanor Foundation partner. Her schedule is tight, but she wouldn't have it any other way.

"You have to set an example for your kids," claims Kamilyn. "You're their Spiderman and their Superman. So if they see you defeated, they'll think they can't do anything themselves."

With a mother's warm smile she adds, "I'm also proud to say my children all have perfect grades."