This woman, whose name is never given, first came to the coast to teach the first grade in Orcutt, California. This was the best position she had at the time, however, she figured that being the wife of an attorney in Santa Barbara was a better choice. She resigned from being a teacher and devoted all her time to being a mother. She had a boy and he was the greatest pleasure in her life. However this all changed when his father decided to leave for another woman. It is seven years later, she lies on the beach with a fever of 104 degrees with kidney distress. If it wasn’t for an 11 year old girl named Jennifer, she probably wouldn’t have lived. The girls family nursed the woman back to health and she was on the streets again. She discusses how there is a constant search for a more comfortable place to sleep, as going from a king size bed to sleeping on the ground can be hard to adjust too. She still had her elementary teaching certificate and three college degrees, however she couldn’t find a job due to her timidness and appearance. When her son was six she had her husband take the child as she thought it was in the child’s best interest. This was especially hard for her, crying herself to sleep every night for years. What she recalls on most about being homeless is the hunger, learning to live with that gnawing feeling in your stomach. Yet she says that she never begged for money or food. One day, as if things couldn’t get any worse, she was in the wrong place and someone kicked her. Her skull was cracked and she suffered a bad concussion. It took about a year and a half for the pain to go away. She ended up going through about 100 lawyers to finally make her divorce with the attorney final. While halfway across the country, she claims a miracle brought her back to Santa Barbara, her dance teacher asked her to house sit her home. She studied with many artists on an off for a couple of years and was able to get her educational superintendent license. She is currently a school administrator. She claims that her experience being homeless made her achieve the highest position in her career. Her only hope is that her story will help you think twice about the next homeless person you see. You never know, she could have 3 college degrees.
http://www.homelessinsantabarbara.com/
Our project is about homeless children and children with homeless parents. We want to inspire every voice to speak up for themselves. We wanted to educate those who don't think of this as a serious subject. For those who consider homeless people lazy or see them as people who aren't as important, let this bring to light the other side of their stories.
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