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Karen Koontz after her makeover.
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Meet Karen Koontz, a regular, hardworking woman, who met with an unfortunate fate three years ago, when she lost her husband to cancer.
Fresh into a life of retirement, she and her husband
moved to Florida, where they began to plan their life of leisure together.
“Six months after we moved to Florida, my husband was
dead,” she said.
Instead of planning trips together and exciting things
to do together with her husband, Karen found herself planning a memorial
service.
When the emotional dust cleared, Karen realized that,
with the death of her husband, she no longer had the financial income needed to
sustain a life of retirement. She had medical bills, which mounted from
treatments done, in an attempt to save her husband’s life, and her savings
account was wiped out. Not long after his death, Karen lost her home.
Things looked bleak for Karen. No money, no job, no
home – what was she going to do?
Then she was
introduced to Lydia House, a 50-bed facility which
provides solace and hope in the face of abuse, addiction, financial hardship
and abandonment for women and their children.
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| Karen before her makeover. |
Today, Karen is getting back up on her feet with the
help and mentorship of people like Nancy Rench, who she met through Lydia
House. Rench is the founder and president of Finding
Something More, an organization dedicated to inspiring women to look
beyond their circumstances and reach for Something More.
“Nancy has been awesome,” Karen says. “She’s bringing
up some of my challenges and, with her help, I’m building up my self- esteem.”
After the death of her husband, Karen had no remaining family and friends
became scarce.
“When money is gone, friends go,” she said.
That was until she met Nancy.
With the help of her mentor, Karen has undergone a
full makeover, to include, hair, nails, makeup, wardrobe and employment
mentorship.
Together, she and Nancy have been doing some mock
interviewing to prepare Karen for her return to the work force.
Karen, who worked in the administrative field for
years before retirement, aspires to return to that field, as possibly a
secretary or who knows? She is interviewing with a variety of different
companies and fields of interest. But most importantly,
she aspires to someday “help others get back on their feet - help others in
need.” Like Nancy did for her, she said.
“I am so grateful for Nancy. I thank God he put her in
my life,” Karen said. “She is an awesome mentor. I’ve experienced through this program that there are other good human
beings out there.”
Lydia House services are not available to walk-ins or emergencies. For referrals and walk-in
services for families, please visit the Long Beach Multi-Service Center at 1301
W. 12th Street, LB 90813 or call (562) 570-4500.
For more on Nancy Rench or for mentorship, personal coaching and business
consultant inquiries, visit www.nancyrench.com
