CORSICANA, TX — The Salvation Army has always worked to do the most good as they help the community.
This week is National Salvation Army week.
The Corsicana Salvation Army has helped one woman get back on her feet as she was soon to be a single mom.
Martha Hernandez was alone as she was working full-time as a waitress. Her son's father had left and she could barely provide for herself.
"There was a point where I wanted to give him up for adoption," Hernandez said.
Co-workers and friends tried to stop her from making that decision but her mind seemed to be set. Until she made friends with one frequent customer Hernandez would always wait on.
"No one would attend her, but I did and she was a great person. I knew automatically what she wanted," Hernandez said.
Henderson shared her story with Sharla Allen, who sits on the board for the Salvation Army. Allen told Hernandez about the new Salvation Army program, Pathway to Hope.
Pathway to Hope has been a worldwide program for three years and recently started in Coriscana this past year. It is to help families who have children under the age of 18 get out of poverty and stay out. Hernandez was the first one to sign up.
"I said but when you do you're going to have to follow through and there's certain things you have to do with the program," Allen said.
Even after visiting, Amanda Carpenter, a social worker with Pathway to Hope, Hernandez was still skeptical.
"People have told me I wasn't going to make it, that I'm not going to become anything in life," Hernandez said
Hernandez continues to work in the Pathway to Hope program, advice she gives to any single mom or dad that don't think things will get better, she says you just have to keep moving forward.
"Not just wanting to get stuck in one position, have hope have faith that you're going to actually make something of your self," Hernandez said. "I do, I have faith."
Even with those words constantly putting her down, she wanted to prove them wrong. It started with making the decision to put her son up for adoption. There was one moment that changed her mind to keeping little Liam.
"When I held him, I couldn't let him go, he was already a part of me," Hernandez said.
Now, people couldn't be more proud of Hernandez, especially Allen and Carpenter.
"She's settled into her apartment with her own son and it's just, I can't there's not words to explain she's just succeeding so much in so many different ways," Carpenter said.
Hernandez is going back to school in August and plans to get a degree in Certified Nursing Associates. She couldn't be more happy and is still in shock that her life has turned around so much in the span of a year.
She only wants the best for her son and hopes one day he looks at her thinks.
"That he's proud of me, and I'm trying," Hernandez said. "That's all I want."
Until four-month-old Liam realizes he has a super-mom, for now Hernandez wakes up each day knowing she did it and can continue.
"I made it, I made it," Hernandez said.
If you or someone you know could benefit from the Pathway to Hope program, call your local Salvation Army.
