It’s a home worth fighting for

A safe place to raise her son, thanks to perseverance and an agency’s help

By Evan Lips, elips@lowellsun.com

Updated: 10/26/2011 08:15:29 AM EDT

LOWELL — At just 18 months old, he’s already fascinated by the world surrounding his new Lane Street home.

Raphael “Ralphie” Proulx giggles when his mother holds him up to the bedroom window so he can see his neighbor’s chickens milling about the yard. He squeals with delight as Mom bounces his favorite blue ball across the bedroom.

These are the moments Crystal Proulx has fought for ever since dangerous amounts of lead forced her to leave her old home.

That happened about six months ago. Since then, the 24-year-old single mother and her son have bounced around more than one of Ralphie’s beloved balls. She struggled to hold down her nursing job and find a home for herself and her son.

Proulx needed help. She got it from Lowell’s House of Hope, a shelter organization that’s been helping families find homes since December 1985.

Proulx’s story and eventual comeback is a special case.

When House of Hope celebrated its 25th anniversary last Thursday night at UMass Lowell’s Allen House, Proulx was there to accept the organization’s Courageous Mother award and a citation from the state Senate.

Her case worker at House of Hope, Julie Lemire, knew Proulx was going to succeed the minute she walked into the organization’s Merrimack Street home.

“You could see the motivation,” Lemire said. “A lot of women here come from trauma situations, but Crystal knew what she needed to do and went out and did it.”

Lemire said her lasting memory of Proulx was the fact that Proulx — and not Lemire — was always the first to ask how she was feeling each day.

Lemire added that part of her job is to arrive at work with a smile and something nice to say — but that’s exactly what Proulx was doing during her time at House of Hope.

“Before I had the chance to smile at her and ask her about her day, she’d beat me to it,” Lemire recalled.

Proulx’s spirit, which Lemire said is infectious, had recently traveled down a dark road. Proulx said Ralphie’s father has never seen his son.

“He doesn’t want to be a dad,” she said. “He knows about the lead and all of the transitions we’ve made, but he doesn’t want any part of it.”

So when a routine blood test discovered abnormally high levels of lead in her son’s bloodstream, Proulx had nowhere to turn and no one to fall back on for support. In a state of panic and uncertainty, Proulx said the only thing for certain was she had to leave her lead-ridden Highlands home.

“My first thought was, what will happen to Ralphie?” she said. “And then where would we go?”

There was the two-week stint living at a Haverhill motel, followed by time at both House of Hope’s Varnum Avenue and Merrimack Street homes.

Proulx, who works full time as a home health aide for Commonwealth Nursing, said she plans on going back to school to become a licensed practical nurse. While Proulx is working, Ralphie attends the Little Sprouts Child Enrichment Center on Chelmsford Street.

Proulx said the constant moving was tough on her son. There were times when she was consumed by stress and guilt over having to move her son from shelter to shelter.

“I felt like I wanted to give up so many times, but what made me stay strong was Ralphie,” she said.

Proulx said her son was “clingy” at first while the two were living at the shelters. But she added that Ralphie has shown to be “quite adaptable.”

Today, Proulx is happy to have found a more permanent home. There’s no lead at her Lane Street apartment, which House of Hope helped her find. She’s says she’ll eventually sign a lease, but her long-term goal after first becoming a nurse is to find a house.

“It’s hard being a single mom, but you have to make time and stay strong,” Proulx said as a happy Ralphie batted an orange balloon around his bedroom. “I’m so grateful for the support.”

Crystal Proulx fought to find a new home for her and her son, Raphael, after leaving her old place due to high levels of lead paint. The 24-year-old single mother is settling into a safe apartment on Lane Street in Lowell found through House of Hope. SUN / TORY GERMANN