shelter&stability
Winter
2020
News from Willis Dady Homeless Services
From Shelter to Stability
Crystal Carter: Becoming a Peer Support Each issue of our newsletter features a recent client success story. Generous gifts from donors like you make it possible for these success stories to take place. Thank you so much. Stigma is difficult to fight against. Being homeless means battling against a social belief that a person becomes homeless because of poor mental health, drug addiction, or laziness. Crystal Carter, a former Willis Dady client and current staff Resident Assistant, is proof that those stigmas cannot define a person. Two years ago, Crystal was homeless. She spent her nights sleeping on the streets, on benches, on couches, and in hotels. Crystal said that most days she “worried about where I was going to sleep the night [and] if I was going to be safe” and needed to have someone there to watch her back. Crystal worked while sleeping on the streets and while sleeping in hotels. Without somewhere stable to stay, Crystal found herself
unable to save up enough money to afford housing. This is often the case for individuals or families - it is difficult or impossible to save enough money for stable housing when having to spend money on hotel rooms. In December 2018, Crystal decided that she had to take a risk and make a change to break this cycle – she began spending her nights at the Overflow Shelter. Instead of spending her money on hotels, Crystal was able to save that money, with a safe and warm place to sleep. She didn’t have to worry about where she would stay for the night or what dangers were around the corner. While Overflow was not a permanent solution for Crystal, it was a consistent, trusted, and safe resource. With a job and somewhere stable to stay, Crystal was able to save enough money for her own place. But her story does not end there. Following finding housing in the spring of 2019, Crystal was hired
as an Ambassador by Willis Dady’s Employment program. She has since become a peer leader in the homeless community. She has returned to Overflow this year as a support for the rest of our neighbors that are fighting homelessness.
When people are given the opportunity to build stability, by having a safe, temporary place to stay, they can change their lives. They may even, like Crystal, change the lives of others. - Alizé McClure, VISTA Storyteller
Willis Dady’s vision is to empower clients to break the cycle of homelessness and become self-sufficient. 1