This story is co-published with Lux magazine and supported by the journalism non-profit the Economic Hardship Reporting Project.
Afew years ago, Sunnie Helling decided to get serious about sobriety. She moved into the Union Gospel Mission, a religious charity in her hometown of Coeur d’Alene, Idaho, that helps unhoused people get back on their feet. She began to plan a better life for herself and her two daughters. “I knew I wanted to get my GED,” she told me. She also knew that the Adult Education Center at North Idaho College (NIC) offered a free GED program. It seemed like a good place to start.