READ ABOUT THE STORY TELLERS

STORY TELLERS (continued)

Jeffery Garcia is an18 year old Latino male. He has a high school education. He has no criminal or substance abuse history. When Jeffery was a minor he was put into a youth facility for some poor choices he made. When they let him out they gave him a check and put him on the streets. He was only 18 years old. He decided to use that check for a hotel room. When it came down to it he used all of his money on the hotel and did not even have a penny to spare for food. He lived in the hotel for about two weeks while he looked for work and a place to live. He was referred to Villages of Hope. He did all his paperwork and all the other necessary things to get approved for placement. He waited for a day or two and got the news that he was accepted into the program. He now has a job and is able to pay his rent and everything he needs.

Steven Jones is a Caucasian male. Steven has a GED. Steven has no substance abuse issues, no criminal history, and no children. He just fell on bad luck. He was on the streets for about a week and a half before getting referred to the Center of Hope. The Center of Hope has given him a roof over his head and a shower to bath in. They have allowed him time to find a job and better his life by going to security school. He plans on getting a job working security after he graduates from his class.

Guy Nelson is a 55 year old Caucasian male who attends college at Palm Beach Community College . He is pursuing a degree as a Respiratory Therapist. Guy has experienced homelessness. He was homeless for a total of 6 months but before that he was a working man. Guy has children who are now grown and he tries to maintain a relationship with them. Guy struggled with substance abuse, which ultimately landed him on the streets. Guy would like to work with infants in the respiratory department when he graduates from college.

Miranda Patron is 19 and pregnant. She is a Caucasian female with a high school diploma. Her life growing up was not stable. The family system was not very functional and clear. Miranda graduated from high school and soon found herself living in a car. Her boyfriend at the time was living in the car with her. When she found out she had become pregnant she decided to get some help. She found Transitions through Children’s Home Society. They helped her get into their program. Now she is working towards a better life for herself and her baby.

Arasha Powell is a 19 year old African-American single mom. Her daughter is 3 months old. Arasha is striving for her GED and plans to pursue a better life for her family. Arasha found herself homeless at a young age with no where to go and a baby on the way. She was connected with Children’s Home Society and they were able to take her in.

Lamar Powell is a 56 year old African-American male. He is also a veteran. Lamar is clean today but has a history of substance abuse. He has a son who is 31 years old. Powell became homeless and was connected with Stand Down House through the VA hospital. Lamar has graduated from their program and is now living in his own apartment. He also has the job that he has always dreamed of: a football coach! He loves his job. He is the head coach at Forest Hill High School .

Fabio Ramos is a Hispanic male who quickly lost everything. He had a job, money and friends until homelessness consumed him. He was a contributing citizen of the community. Before Fabio became homeless he had several friends and people he loved to spend time with. Fabio found out that he had an addiction to alcohol when it caused him to loose his job. On the streets with no support; and all of his friends stopped talking to him. Fabio got connected with Center of Hope and started their program. Fabio is on the search for a job and looking to make his life better.

Matt Robinson is a 28 year old Caucasian male who served in Iraq . As a child, Matt was very bright. He attended the School of the Arts in downtown West Palm Beach . After graduating he attended Florida State University on a full scholarship for music. A classically trained musician, he attended a couple of years of college. While in college he began to experiment with drugs. During Matt’s sophomore year at Florida State he failed out. Matt ended up on the streets. This went on for some time. He would stay with friends, and then get kicked out. He would go to a different house and get kicked out. This became a cycle. Matt lost a lot of his self-esteem but he got the chance to sign up for the Army. He then went to Iraq and was sober for a year while serving our country. Matt thought that he could come back and not have a problem. When he did come back he relapsed and began the cycle again. He stayed with his mother for awhile but she kicked him out because he was stealing from his mother. Matt wasn’t that guy on the corner and never was; he was the man under the bridge and he stole from everyone. Matt finally began to receive help from the VA Hospital and he started their program for homeless veterans. He is now working and is sober. He hopes that in 1-5 years he will be happily married with a family. He just wants the “American Dream” like most people.

John Ryan is a white male in his late 40’s. John just got off the streets. He was living in a tent made out of two tarps behind an elementary school. John grew up in a stable environment but decided to move to Florida when he was a young adult. He didn’t have anything that he was moving to. He was left homeless. Since that time John has struggled with homelessness. John struggles with an addiction every day and this further perpetuated the cycle of his homelessness. It was hard for him to hold a job because he is often under the influence. Today, John is still homeless; although just approved for a program. He is working on sobriety and working on getting a job. He would like to go back to school to learn a trade of some sort to help him get a better job.

Frederick Sherman is a 46 year old African-American male. He now works during the day and goes to school at night. Frederick is the loving father of two boys who are 4 and 7 years old. He is also a veteran. It is hard to believe that not too long ago he was homeless. For Sherman , homelessness became a reality when he was in middle school. His mom and dad were violent. Shortly after his parents divorced, he was himself homeless. His entire life changed dramatically, and he no longer knew who he was, what the future held for him, and where he would live. He wandered about the community. His family didn’t have much and his father was at odds with him so Sherman questioned if he deserved what he had. He began to hide in crowds because he had no self esteem or other sense of self-worth. During his homelessness journey; he struggled with self approval, maintaining relationships, anger management, and fear of being found out. Sherman ’s biggest contributing factor became the use of substances. Sherman writes “I was treated as an outcast, worthless, a form of financial strain, and literally considered scum.” He felt that he didn’t deserve his rights as an American. Suicidal thoughts developed out of his desperation. Thankfully, he was directed to the VA emergency room. The VA connected Sherman with Stand Down House. Fredrick is now substance free and is viewed as a mentor and is trusted by his friends, loved ones, and community. In 1-5 years he sees himself “still clean, involved in ministry, reunited with my sons, still included in the Stand Down ministry, graduated from college and striving towards being a small business owner. "

Stephanie Tennant is a Caucasian female. She has a son who had a decent life as a child. Stephanie did what she had to do for her son. Many times as a single mother this led to poor judgment. Stephanie consistently entered into relationships that were abusive. As a result of the domestic violence, she was on the streets with a substance abuse issue. She finally got connected with Center of Hope and they took her in. They helped her get on her feet, find a job and a place to move on to the next step towards self-sufficiency. Stephanie is now living by herself and works five days a week. This is the first time in her life that she has been able to live on her own and this was the scariest step for her to make. She is sober and living a life that she loves.

Antoinette Washington is a 23 year old African-American female. Today, Antoinette has a job and a home. However, just a few months ago she was on the streets. She is a prime example of someone falling through the “cracks of our social service system”. Her parents passed away when she was a young child and her grandparents adopted her and her brother. When her grandfather passed away she was tremendously impacted. Things weren’t the same. Antoinette had to fight to get money from her grandmother where her brother just got it. Antoinette began to resort to decisions that were not productive to acquire the basic necessities. When she was 16 years old, the Department of Children and Families came into her life and took her grandmother to a home for elderly. Antoinette was left to fend for herself. She asked the social worker who took her grandmother where she was supposed to go. The social worker told her “I don’t know.” Just a few months later she was abandoned by the “social services system” and left to live on the streets. She would go to friends and family for a place to live but they would kick her out. She was staying with a cousin and the cousin referred her to Villages of Hope. She was accepted into the program two days after she had finished her paper work. She was able to move into a home for the first time in six years. She has also gotten a job. Antoinette is taking classes online right now to get her high school diploma. After she receives her diploma, she would like to go to school for business management. When she graduates from college she wants to open up a daycare center.

Steve Zuehsldorff is a 60 year old male who became homeless after high school. Steve didn’t think at the time he had become homeless; nor that it was a problem to be living on the streets and in his car. As his life began spiraling downward, Steve began to realize that he was an alcoholic. He had a job but didn’t make enough money to pay his rent, so he lived on the streets. Today, ten years later Steve is living at the Center of Hope. He is sober and is trying to find work. He loved to read as a child and still enjoys reading as an adult. He believes his love of reading was the main reason he scored 1500+ on his SAT in high school. He was a child of promise; who wasn’t ready to go to college and didn’t have a goal for his future. No longer homeless, Steve can now smile and say “that even though he didn’t go to college he has a major in homelessness”. This helps Steve inspire those who are in desperate times find hope out of homelessness.