“The first obstacle: believing in himself.”
Eight years. That’s how long our neighbor, we’ll call him Tom (not his real name), spent living in the woods around Kansas City until last spring when, with the help of Kimberly Henderson, our Client Care Supervisor, he signed a lease on his very own apartment. With his key in hand and a safe place to call his own, Tom said it was like finding a sense of healing for the first time in nearly a decade. “I have a door I can lock,” he said. “I almost feel human again.”
“The work we do with our neighbors is a journey of love, empathy, and solidarity,” Henderson said. “I started working with this gentleman about a year ago. The first obstacle we had to overcome was his believing in himself.”
Homelessness happens for any number of reasons. Addiction and severe mental health issues can be the culprit, but for Tom, and many others like him, a cascading series of difficult events resulted in a life on the streets. “He was distraught,” Henderson said, “and he had convinced himself that he was not worthy of housing. For him it wasn’t just about housing, but knowing that he understands that he deserves this, that he has a right to it.”
Henderson said she met weekly with Tom over the past year. Each time they met, she helped him submit housing applications. Even as Tom received denial after denial, Henderson encouraged him to practice positive affirmations and she worked on helping him build his self confidence.
“We gradually created trust with one another,” she said. “I’m in awe of his transformation and so blessed that I was able to play a small part in God’s work.”
Often when we talk about providing social services, it is easy to focus on the end result -- the apartment secured, the medicine or medical supplies delivered, the birth certificate or work permit provided. But each time a neighbor like Tom receives a needed service or item, we understand that often many hours (sometimes months and even years) of encouraging, listening, and advocating go into that victory.
This will be the first Winter in nine years that Tom has had a roof overhead to protect against downpours, a door to close against the uncertainty of the outside, and an advocate like Henderson committed to encouraging him along the way. “Now that he has a home, the next step is working with him on getting a job,” she said.
*Written by Kyle Smith
We first shared this post in the Spring of 2020, but it is a reminder of the time and dedication it takes to walk with a neighbor on their long journey to stable housing. Please consider MAKING A DONATION to help neighbors like Tom right now, who are struggling to find or keep their home.