A Place To Call Home
The seeds of change are found in everyday experience. The stories of people who live in supportive housing can shed light on important issues, such as what it is like to experience homelessness or live with mental illness or a disability. Because of this, during 2019, the Supportive Housing Providers Association (SHPA) and Housing Action Illinois partnered to bring a series of five workshops to help residents of permanent supportive housing explore telling stories to make a difference. The stories in this publication grew out of the workshops, and we are grateful to everyone whose experiences are shared in these pages. Together, we can build a more understanding, compassionate world. Our thanks to the Illinois Charitable Trust Stabilization Fund for making this collaboration possible.
The seeds of change are found in everyday experience. The stories of people who live in supportive housing can shed light on important issues, such as what it is like to experience homelessness or live with mental illness or a disability. Because of this, during 2019, the Supportive Housing Providers Association (SHPA) and Housing Action Illinois partnered to bring a series of five workshops to help residents of permanent supportive housing explore telling stories to make a difference. The stories in this publication grew out of the workshops, and we are grateful to everyone whose experiences are shared in these pages. Together, we can build a more understanding, compassionate world.
Our thanks to the Illinois Charitable Trust Stabilization Fund for making this collaboration possible.
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to you, and you’ll pass it to your child. And you’ve got a free babysitter.”
And he said great.
Two weeks later, he was dead. Shot multiple times to the body, and then
they finished it off by shooting him in the head. I had to identify that
body.
But my son brought another baby into the world. I was gonna take care
of that child. He looked just like his father, and they named him after
him.
But a couple of weeks later, the baby died. So I buried a son and a
grandson within six months’ time.
And my life just went downhill. I mean it
just spiraled out of control. I lost my job,
I lost my apartment. I just didn’t want to
live anymore.
“I buried a son and a
grandson within six
months’ time.”
I didn’t know that I was clinically depressed. I had no clue. I’ve always
thought I was the captain of my ship. You know, the hero of the family.
And it took me to come to A.I.D. to be able to try to get back my life,
because I was in uncharted water and didn’t know how to deal with it.
I couldn’t go to my mother, because I had a mother that I loved, but I
didn’t like her. We didn’t see things eye to eye. I had to go to an outside
source to be able to get some help.
I feel like I’m on the right track now. And I love life, because I’m
dreaming again. That feels so good, to be able to dream. To be able to
make plans. I’m dreaming again.
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