Ending the cycle of homelessness
You're living in San Francisco. It's a beautiful city with some of the highest housing costs in the country. You've lost your job and end up living in your car...for FOUR YEARS! You always think this can't happen to me. It can't be my story. ..until it is.
That happened to Sherri and Shdiva. I brought you their story last October. Sad and heartbreaking, Six months later comes this happy moment. I can't call it a happy ending because they still have a ways to go. It's not easy to overcome a bout of homelessness but it looks like they are on their way.
Shdiva Black gives you the exciting news in her own words:
I am beyond thrilled to deliver some grand news. Sherri and I have exited the great White State of Oregon. We are housed in a lovely new home and have procured full time permanent employment.
Sherri has landed what is much like her dream job in Education working at a charter school teaching World History and US History, with a solid sustainable salary worthy of her talent. It's a contracted, full-time, permanent, salaried position, and she has recently started work.
Of course homelessness has taken its toll and we are clearly not out of the woods yet. There is still much rebuilding of our lives to do as we lost everything, need everything, as well as there is much trauma to undo, but this is the start we have been hoping for.
It's interesting that in this news I have been close to crashing. It's kind of like those in airplane crashes that seem completely fine until the paramedics arrive, and then they bleed out. I think that is the nature of trauma.
But all of that aside, we are quite elated and we wanted to thank everyone who donated to our Gofundme campaign(s) and who also stood with us, even in the face of naysaying and negative spin. It's easier for some to believe an ordeal like ours is not true, a lie, or a scam, than to believe the truth. That is unfortunate; yet it is a reality of how we address the issue of homelessness in America.Nevertheless, our struggle was real, honest, and truthful, and we survived to tell about it.
We deeply from the bottom of our hearts thank all who helped us because we absolutely would not have made it out of this cycle of homelessness without your generous help. Some of you have said you hoped to see us have a happy ending. Others said they wanted to make a real difference. Well for what it's worth, you did. The happy ending happened, a difference was made, and your dollars and hope were a worthy investment. For all intent and purposes, I can finally say these long awaited words--- We Made It Out.
This is the first part of their story . It was written by Sheri and Shdiva's friend and my cousin, Eva Valenti.
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