Stories

Featured Story

You Must Have Hope and Keep Going

I never got to go to school before. Right when I started going to my first school, the civil war started in Somalia. It was a terrible, dark time. Everyone was running for their life. I was very young then. We left Somalia and went to Kenya. Life in a refugee camp is...

Finding Genaysia

“Homelessness is not fun. You have sad days. You have days where you just, you don’t even worry about your emotional well-being or self-care.” “It messes with your head,” says Genaysia, when she talks about being homeless. “Homelessness is not fun. You have sad days....

Wilfrido’s Next Step Forward

Wilfrido was walking down the street more than two years ago when he saw the sign: English Learning Center. He walked inside, down the stairs to the school basement, and enrolled that same day. When asked why he feels that learning English is important, he laughs as...

Here Comes the Sunshine After the Storm

By the time Ivi* became homeless, she’d already endured more trauma and loss than most. She’d lost her mother, kids, dog, car, job, apartment, money—even her church community. She says, “It was my first time being in the street. I didn’t have anybody. I had nowhere to...

Now He Can Say, “I am Shimoy!”

Saying Goodbye to Shimoy the Rancher In another life, Shimoy was a rancher of goats, camels, and cows. He insists that he loved all the animals equally, keeping no favorites. The land was beautiful and green, situated between the two largest rivers in Somalia....

Climbing Out from Rock Bottom

Peter Hits Rock Bottom The day Peter became homeless was the day he hit rock bottom. He had already reached an emotional low after years of debilitating health issues, compounded by the stress of his collapsing marriage. Becoming homeless, he says, “was just the last...