From the moment Rina White first walked into the Newburgh Ministry, her life was changed for the better.

White is homeless and has been searching for work for a long time. But the financial coaching she’s received through the Ministry’s Fragile Economies Project has made all the difference.

For the last 6 months, White has been meeting one on one with coach Genie Polycarpe, to set financial goals like finding a job, and moving out of the Newburgh Ministry shelter and into her own apartment.

"I'm saving enough money to be living in an apartment; also saving some money so that I'm able to get to and from work," White said.

Polycarpe has helped White sign up for unemployment assistance and helped her save 70 percent of her income to afford an apartment. She even found a job.

"The most worthwhile and most substantial goals take two months, take the working at it; take the saving," said Polycarpe.

"And that’s when you know when you’ve accomplished [something and] you can do this," said White, patting herself on the back.

White definitely has something to pat herself on the back about these days. On Friday, she moved into her new apartment and out of the shelter where she's lived since 2019.

"Now that I won't be homeless anymore, it’s a new chapter in my life," said White. "It puts me in a different mind space where it's like, ‘This is the opportunity that you have and you can get out of this situation’ where you feel like -- I felt -- like I was helpless. I couldn’t help myself; nobody wanted me, that kind of feeling where I felt discarded from the world, and now I'm not."