“I feel like anything is possible, and I am living proof. I was homeless in May of last year,” she said. “I couldn’t have expected anything like this to happen without the help of Harbor Care.”

The challenges faced by Alycia, a US Navy veteran, have been quite extraordinary. The 37-year-old never imagined that one day she would become homeless, lose custody of her son, battle a severe mental health crisis, and then fight her way back to stability – all within the span of a single year.

“Last spring was probably my rock bottom. I’ve never had a mental health crisis before, and I wouldn’t wish that on anybody,” she said.

See a brief video and more photos below.

Alycia grew up in Pelham. Her mother worked multiple jobs while her grandparents helped raise her and her two older brothers. As a rebellious teenager, Alycia struggled with the trauma of a sexual assault by a family member. She ran away from home, dropped out of high school, and became involved with drugs.

Everything changed in 2006 when her oldest brother was killed in Iraq.

After learning of his death, Alycia returned home, finished high school, and joined the Navy. She went on to serve for 15 years as an aircraft mechanic, including deployments aboard the USS Harry S. Truman and USS Gravely. She also worked as a brig counselor and became known for mentoring younger sailors and helping them connect with support resources.

All the while, no one knew she was quietly breaking under the weight of her own unresolved trauma. She says she experienced repeated sexual assaults during her military service and struggled silently with PTSD for years, afraid to seek help because of the stigma surrounding mental health in the military.

“Nobody ever talked about it,” she said. “I didn’t feel comfortable. I didn’t think anybody was going to believe me.”

“I had nothing,” she said. “I was trying to regain my footing and get some traction.”

After leaving the military in 2022, Alycia’s life became increasingly unstable. She struggled with substance use, occasionally sold drugs to pay the rent, and became pregnant with her son.

Around the same time, her mother was diagnosed with pancreatic cancer. Then, in the spring of 2024, everything collapsed at once. She experienced her first mental health crisis and was hospitalized. A couple of weeks later, her mother died. Her brother insisted that she leave the family home immediately.  She said, “I had my mom. I was living with my mom, taking care of my mom. And then the day she dies, I have nowhere to go.”

While trying to stabilize on new medications, she not only lost her housing, but she also temporarily lost custody of her son. For several months, she moved between friends’ homes while trying to rebuild her life.

“I had nothing,” she said. “I was trying to regain my footing and get some traction.”

With the help of a VA social worker, Alycia was introduced to Harbor Care and offered an apartment at Buckingham Place, one of Harbor Care’s transitional housing facilities for veterans. She moved in August 2025.

And her life really began to turn around. She reunited with her son in October. She continued therapy, connected with veteran support groups, and focused on her recovery. Last month she graduated Southern NH University with a 3.8 GPA and became the first person in her family to earn a college degree. This month, she begins a master’s degree program in social work at Simmons University.

Her goal is to eventually earn a doctorate and help others who face the same struggles she endured.

“I want to use my lived experience to help other people. I want people to know there’s help available,” she said. “Not having the person that I needed the most at any point in my life is the reason I want to be the one that someone seeks out for help.”

Much of her motivation centers around her son. “Everything is for my son. I want him to have the life that I was never afforded. I want my son to see me doing a job that I love,” she said. “He’s going to grow up and see all the helping I’m doing, and hopefully, that just rubs off on him.”

Now preparing to move into permanent housing, Alycia says she finally feels hopeful about what lies ahead. She credits her recovery to persistence and focus, support from Harbor Care, the VA, and mental health professionals, and learning to ask for help when she needed it most.

“I’ve never been more excited for what’s to come.”