Rebuilding a life after drug addiction and homelessness is by no means easy, but one 28-year-old single mother is determined to do it.

The woman, who asked not to be identified, lived on the beach for a few years and was hooked on drugs. When she learned she was pregnant, she was ready for a change.

In a stroke of good fortune, help came her way. A woman who had been in a similar situation approached her on the beach and asked her if she needed help. The pregnant woman accepted the offer and checked into a halfway home.

"I just had enough," she said. "I wanted to turn things around and make a change."

The woman has been drug-free for nearly five years now and lives in public housing with her 4-year-old daughter. She earned her high school diploma, recently got a job as a saleswoman and has plans to further her education.

But even though she's made considerable strides, the young mother is still struggling to make ends meet. She makes minimum wage, which makes it difficult to buy much else after paying for rent and food.

It hurts that she can't give her daughter more.

"I don't know how much it affects her, but it really bothers me that I can't get her the stuff that she asks for," she said. "Her underwear is too small, and I can't just go get (new ones). I have to budget for that."

But she's determined to improve things for herself and her daughter. She has set more goals for herself, including getting vocational training to become an office administrator. She eventually wants to earn a bachelor's degree in business management and run her own business.

She said that even though her life has been hard, she makes no excuses and is thankful to have been given a second chance.

"I don't feel like my life has ever really been easy, but at the same time, I know that we make choices," she said. "And we always have the opportunity to make a better choice.

"It's rough sometimes, but I'm grateful."

The family's needs include a sofa — mother and daughter have to sit on the living-room floor — and a washing machine. They haul their laundry on a bus to wash their clothes at a laundromat.

The woman also said she would "love" for her daughter to have some toys and clothes this Christmas, and that she would appreciate a computer to help with her schooling and enhance her computer skills for a better job.

The woman's 4-year-old daughter wears girls' size 7/8 clothes and a size 1 shoes. The woman wears size 8 pants, M-L shirt/dress and 8 1/2 shoes.

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Reach Lynda Arakawa at larakawa@honoluluadvertiser.com.