Stereotyping the image of homeless people is something that strikes a nerve with Brenda Stepps.

While for many, it’s the woman wearing a worn winter coat and woolen cap and pushing a shopping cart filled with all of her worldly possessions. Or the man, with his straggly, unkempt beard, clutching a brown paper bag with a bottle of booze inside. Or those who are seeking shelter from the cold as they sit under a bridge or sleep on a park bench, in a doorway, in a cardboard box or lay across heated vents on bustling city sidewalks.

But for Stepps, the image of the homeless that comes to mind is not someone who is isolated, bedraggled and perhaps mentally disturbed. It’s the one she sees when she looks into the mirror.

“I became homeless in an hour,” she said.

Stepps and her three sons, Thomas, 17, Michael 14 and Nicholas, 9, found themselves out on the street less than five months ago – at 1:30 in the morning on July 3.

The circumstances had nothing at all to do with job loss, substance abuse or mismanagement of money.

It was a case of a personal and tragic family situation which left her and the boys no other choice but to leave their Philadelphia home.

In the car, with only a cell phone and some personal belongings, Stepps headed into New Jersey and phoned the CONTACT emergency hotline.

Within an hour, CONTACT had the family placed in a motel in Cinnaminson for the holiday weekend, then helped to put them in touch with Interfaith Hospitality Network of Burlington County the following Monday morning.

Stepps had high praise for IHN; for Patricia Lasusky, the agency’s director, and all that was done to help her and her sons get back on their feet. In the eight weeks that the family lived in the IHN host churches, including St. Mary of the Lakes, she appreciated the time it gave her to continue working her job as a private home health aide, save money while she looked for a new home, learn how to budget – which was difficult going from living in a two-income family to one – and study for her nursing board exams.

Had Stepps opted to move in with family members, there’s no question that, “I would still be homeless because I would have had to pay rent and contribute to living expenses.”

Stepps prides in telling how her sons coped with their ordeal, with great maturity and understanding.

“They had to sacrifice a lot,” she said. Along with having to say goodbye to their home and friends, “they sacrificed their entire summer. They were indoors all day and Thomas had to look out for his younger brothers.”

The experience, Stepps said, “humbled them quite a bit.”

“They’ve leaned not to take as many things for granted. They’ve become closer in the time they spent together during the eight weeks. They had to work together,” she said.

Stepps said she had come to know and have great affection for the other families that she met through IHN.

Though the families all came from completely different backgrounds and none of their stories compared as to how they found their way to IHN, she is grateful for their friendship and happy to maintain contact with them.

On Thanksgiving, Stepps will enjoy the holiday with her three sons in their new Marlton home where they will have dinner and enjoy each other’s company.

“The list goes on about thankfulness this year,” she said, then proudly added that her most recent accomplishment – passing her nursing board exams – is also high on the list.

As of Oct. 29, she became a fullfledged registered nurse.

“My gratitude goes out to the folks at IHN. The boys and I are going in a healthy direction,” she said.

“We’re working toward our goals and I know we’ll get there. We’ll definitely get there.”