By Rebecca Billman
The Cincinnati Enquirer

Christmas came early for Monique Hunter and her three children - at 10 a.m. Thursday to be exact.

That's when a contingent of movers, executives and volunteers knocked on the door of the Hunter family's third-floor apartment in Over-the-Rhine and filed in with a sofa, a coffee table, four beds, a dining room table, dressers, lamps and other accoutrements that make for a comfortable home.

By Christmas Eve, the children - two girls, ages 14 and 10, and their 15-month-old brother, whom they call "Squirtle" - may have visions of sugarplums dancing in their heads while snuggled up in thick, warm blankets in their new beds. They had been sleeping on mattresses on the floor.

In the morning, they'll awaken to new clothes, coats, shoes, socks and other goodies from their wish lists.

And for dinner, they'll join their mother at the new dining room table to enjoy a turkey feast.

It's a Christmas miracle - compliments of Furniture for a Family, a program sponsored by Cort and Globe furniture rentals, the Greater Cincinnati Northern Kentucky Apartment Association and the Franciscans at St. John.

For the past five years, Cort and Globe have donated furniture to two families right before Christmas - and the apartment association provides the gifts and turkey.

"They just need a little help," said Mark Franks, executive vice president.

"It really gives them a nice little boost to set up house - just help them with their whole lives.

"Of course, that's what the holidays are all about - to be able to help someone else."

The sponsors are linked with the families through the Franciscan at St. John Bridges program, which also provides training for those who don't have marketable skills.

Ms. Hunter, 39, is finishing up a free nine-week course on computer literacy and basic life skills. "All I need now is a job," she said.

She spoke enthusiastically about Bridges on Thursday as she directed the furniture delivery people to the upstairs bedrooms.

"Anybody who lives in Over-the-Rhine who says they can't better themselves haven't tried," Ms. Hunter said. "I'm a poor person, and I'm willing to try."

She also spoke matter-of-factly about her past, which included enduring years of domestic violence, the death of her 4-month-old daughter by a 10-year-old child in 1997, mental illness and homelessness. "It's been pretty chock-full of crap," Ms. Hunter said.

She and her family were homeless for seven months last year before the people at Bridges helped get them into the apartment on Broadway Street.

To furnish it, Ms. Hunter wrote in an application essay to Bridges that she "pulled furniture off the curb."

Getting her apartment and enrolling in the Bridges program were a fresh start for Ms. Hunter.

Today, she is president of the Washington Park School PTO and volunteers at organizations in her neighborhood.

In the Hunters' living room stands an artificial Christmas tree, adorned with tiny white lights, silver icicles, a few construction-paper ornaments and a snapshot of a smiling Squirtle.

Now, large gift bags surround the tree.

As she watched the movers bring in furniture, Ms. Hunter's voice was full of confidence and enthusiasm.

"We're not looking back," she said. "We're looking forward."

E-mail rbillman@enquirer.com