Former Cupertino resident Lynn Munson had a steady job and a happy family. She regularly went to church and volunteered for a nonprofit organization that gives shelter to homeless people.

And then one day Munson became homeless.

Munson had moved to Cupertino from Sonoma in 1995 and lived here for four years with her husband and son Zachary.

"We lived on the intersection of De Anza and Stevens Creek," she says. "My son grew up there."

At that time, Munson was volunteering with the Emergency Housing Consortium of Santa Clara County three nights a week. She baby-sat for children of homeless parents who had to attend money-management and family-support classes.

"As a Christian I was giving back to the community," Munson says.

She was working as an administrative assistant for a chiropractor in early 2001.

"I was making fairly decent money, we didn't have any problems," Munson says. "Then the economy started going downhill, I got laid off and it was hard to find other jobs in that field."

Munson found a job as a caterer with Aramark and took a pay cut of almost half. She gave up the job because of her second pregnancy. At the same time she divorced her husband, and things got even more difficult.

As a single mom with two children and a 74-year-old mother to take care of, Munson depleted her savings and started borrowing money to pay for her rented house. She reached a time when she didn't have enough money for her son's prescription: a five-dollar co-pay.

Munson turned to the Emergency Housing Consortium—this time for help.

"They gave me a roof over my head," Munson says. The consortium has provided her with food certificates and clothing for her children, helped her look for a job and stay on track with her goals.

Since October 2002, Munson has been living at the consortium's Sobrato Family Living Center in Santa Clara, in the permanent affordable housing section. She lives in a two-bedroom apartment with her sons, ages eight and 18 months, and her mother.

Munson works as a telemarketer in San Jose and tries to make ends meet. With the low-income housing program of the consortium, she pays only one-third of her monthly income as rent.

She is also participating in the consortium's "Rise" program.

"This program is a scholarship that helps me pay for school," Munson says. "They pay for everything, including parking. The only thing I have had to pay is $17 for health insurance."

Munson will commence her one-year training as a dental assistant at San Jose City College in September. She expects to find a job on completion of her training and get back on her feet.

Munson still tries to volunteer for the consortium. Being an avid Christian, she thinks she was led to the consortium to do her volunteer work because in time she would need their help.

"It's truly my belief that God put me here," Munson says. "I would have never found this place without volunteering."

Although Munson has a 5-year time limit to live in her current residence, she wants to move out as soon as she finishes school.

Munson says over the past few months the consortium and its people have given her hope and direction.

"When you need something and you ask them, they will bend over backwards for you," she says. "I'm definitely starting to see the light."

The consortium is the county's largest provider of shelter, housing programs and supportive services to homeless individuals, families and youth. Founded in 1980, the consortium's mission is to end homelessness and improve communities.

Maria Glymph, the consortium's communications manager, says, "The best way to characterize what we do is we help homeless and low-income people rebuild their lives."