MUSKEGON, MICH — Sometimes in life, getting on that right path forward requires a little extra help. And in Muskegon, that extra help comes in the form of a piece of paper that many people don’t know they need until they can’t find it.
Since May, at least 60 people – including children – now have their birth certificates thanks to some of the work being in the Muskegon County Clerk's office.
“We can't help you escape poverty without a birth certificate," Muskegon Community Rescue Mission Resource Center Director Angelique Connell told FOX17. "You have to have one for a job, you have to have one to get a house. There are so many things that require one, and it's detrimental to someone's livelihood if they don't."
Once a month, staff from the Muskegon County Clerk's office take a printer and their computers over to the Muskegon Rescue Mission to first vet and then reconnect people with their birth certificates.
And those efforts are making a difference, with many people getting the help they need.
“I would say 80%. Because the majority of the people that we've worked with have left the rescue mission and been able to get their housing, get their social security information, get their Social Security started, so that they can provide for themselves," Muskegon County Clerk Karen Buie said. "It's such a humbling experience.
An experience that Raymond Webb is endlessly thankful for. He is one of the people now getting a second chance at life. And with his birth certificate, Raymond is looking forward to getting back on his feet.
“First one to get a job," Raymond said, "And I also want to get a place to live to just a simple little one bedroom is just me. So I don't need no, nothing fancy. And just live.”
Giving people a chance to just live. That pretty much sums up what Karen and the rest of the staff see every time they fire up their printer.
“One young lady who she actually had been born here in Muskegon moved out of state was involved in a domestic violence situation, and moved here really just fled here for safety," Buie told us, "And so she ended up in the mission. And she had lost all of her records or driver's license or birth certificate and everything. And so she was we were able to provide it for her. And at one point, she came back to share that she was able to get her job, she was able to obtain a job but able to obtain her housing.
A simple piece of paper that has the power to change lives.
"So being able to have this building be the one-stop-shop that we dream for it to be for the community is going to be something that's extremely helpful, but then also making sure that the community knows that we're here," said Connell.