Mom, 21, beats homelessness in Philadelphia thanks to the Tom Reid Village

PHILADELPHIA - Tom Reid Village is proving successful. One woman who literally came through these doors is now on the way to opening one of her own.

"I love it. He is happy. When we first got our keys he said ;mum-mum keys.' So that melted my heart," said Diamond Fitzpatrick with a smile as recalls July 22nd of this year. 

It is when she moved into this trendy three bedroom, two bath Philadelphia apartment with her two-year-old son Tyleem.

"I love it. Like my baby has his own room," she said. 

The move comes after her enrollment in the Tom Reid Village transitional housing program for at-risk and homeless youth.

"I was going through a rough time at the moment," she said. "It was amazing. It taught me a lot. The support system is great," she said of the program.

Diamond who is now 21-years-old, beat homelessness. She says it was not an option. Not for her and definitely not her adorable little boy.

"I love it. It is peaceful," she said of her new residence while in the kitchen fixing her son a snack. 

She enjoys the happy sound of Tyleem's voice and his tiny feet around the place.

"He ran up and down and we also have a rooftop and he loves it up there too," said Diamond. 

She is renting for now because she has a few more goals she wants to accomplish, including nursing school. For better job security and finances.

"I'm currently in school right now but I'm about to finish. I take my state exam Saturday to be a medical assistant," she said. But the classes she went through while at Tom Reid Village she says have prepared her to take the next step and buy when she is ready.

"I told myself less than five years," she said.

Achieving the first goal of living independently, though, is something she celebrates.

RELATED COVERAGE: 

• Save Our Streets: Former inmate helping Philly homeless in promise to 'never disappoint' mentor
• Philadelphia organization offers place of hope, learning for homeless youth across city

"Saving. Every chance I got to spend, spend, spend, spend. But I definitely learned how to save and to build my credit," said Diamond.

Rickey Duncan, who founded the Tom Reid transitional housing program, is proud of the progress of all of his residents and the different paths they are taking upon completion.

"Everybody that enters into the program is a success story because we're taking one less young person out of homelessness," he said. "Our program is 18 months designed for most of the young people to leave straight into homeowners but we don’t force them. We allow them to make that choice based one what they think they are ready for. We may see things through a different lens," he said. 

He is tremendously grateful though for those who have made it to fulfilling the ultimate goal of the program.

"We have one young lady she's currently in the homeowners’ program and she has a beautiful brand-new home from the ground up," he said.

As for Diamond, looking out over her new neighborhood literally gives her a broader full-picture view. Looking down at where she has come from and up which is where she is headed. Home ownership, she says is on the horizon.

"Once I get into my career path a little bit more I think I want to have something like, I built this. I built this for him. So I am working on it. I am just taking a step at a time," said Diamond.

Tom Reid Village is currently accepting applications from young people in need of skills to help them prepare for adulthood.