Faulkner Lifestyle April 2019~Anniversary Edition

not become a statistic or stereotype. “In fact, I plan to prove others
who look like me and/or come from the same background can
be successful without selling or using drugs, without necessarily
rapping or making violent and hateful music, and even without
being great at sports. I want to emphasize and magnify the
importance of education and how far it can take you….”
“After a year, I decided the environment and support system
surrounding me wasn’t what it should have been and spontaneously
decided to move. When I first came to Conway, I didn’t tell
anyone where I lived for more than a year. I didn’t tell anyone
because I didn’t want any distractions or derailment from my goal
of succeeding; I was on a mission,” says Demetrious.
He lived with a friend and his mother, and began working a night
shift at Kimberly Clark. “I rode a bike and walked six miles to work
every other day. I loved it.” Unfortunately, due to an auto accident
and its resulting outcome, Demetrious found himself without a
place to live. “This was the darkest time of my life. At the time, I
thought it was the end of my life as well,” he says. He found help
from a friend from the gym and his grandmother, who offered a
temporary residence. “They helped me apply at a couple of places
to live, one being Bethlehem House.”
“I moved into Bethlehem House in January 2014 and lived there
until March 2015….While there, I focused on saving money and
building and gaining everyday needed resources, such as my
driver’s permit and driver’s license,” Demetrious explains. “I felt
like the happiest being on Earth. I felt like I had been accepted into
college. While there, I met and was a Christmas angel for Mrs.
Jennifer Harrison of First Security Bank and her son! They were
amazing to me and treated me to an unbelievable and unforgettable
Christmas. While living there and working, I was also able to
buy my first car and eventually move into my first apartment.”
By January 2015, he enrolled at the University of Arkansas
Community College Morrilton (UACCM), which he attended
through December 2016 when he graduated with honors. “I still
felt like I had something to prove, so I didn’t tell anyone about the
graduation. I had strangers record me walking across the stage…. I
didn’t tell any family or friends…. I cried driving home that night; I
felt alone. I was alone. I promised I’d tell everyone when I graduated
with my bachelors. And that’s what I did two years later.”
Demetrious with UCA
President, Houston Davis
“Bethlehem House enabled me to reach my educational goals by
allowing me to have a safe place to live and be able to work, and
make and save money. During the approximate one-year period I
was there, I was able to mature and also relish in the amazing and
family-oriented environment that came with living there.”
Demetrious began focusing on his next goal, which was
earning his bachelor’s degree. He enrolled at UCA in January
2017 and worked while earning his degree; at some points he
worked multiple jobs but ended up with First Security Bank.
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