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My name is Meghan and some of you who volunteer or donate to FACETS know me, and many more of you have heard of me, I'm sure. I was the VERY pregnant girl, who was homeless with her boyfriend in the Hypothermia Prevention Response program during the winter of '08.
"We have had a very hard life and the latest challenges began when we placed our three boys in Foster Care in 2007 because we were not stable enough to provide for them. Since then we have been trying to get our lives situated and back on track.
"We came to the Hypothermia shelter at the end of February in 2008, and we were told a few weeks later on March 12th that if we did not have a home by the time our daughter was born in the middle of April that the County would place her in foster care, as well. My boyfriend, Jory, worked 6 days a week, 12 hours a day and I waddled around pregnant for most of the winter. Being in the Hypothermia shelter gave us a place to sleep at night. It also gave us a meal twice a day, and people to talk to and just vent about the general frustrations we were facing.
"When we told FACETS that we could possibly lose our daughter, FACETS began to advocate for us. Because of their efforts, we were able to get into an apartment the day the Hypothermia program ended on April 1, which was also Jory's 28th birthday. We have since moved into a townhouse in Falls Church and I have just recently started a job; we are doing so much better. The Wednesday before Thanksgiving we won our appeal hearing were able to bring our two youngest boys home and will hopefully be bringing our eldest home in the spring.
"Without the help from FACETS we might have lost our daughter, and we would not have been able to get ourselves into a stable situation so we could get our boys back. We are so grateful that this organization exists, without it we would have been lost."
Much Thanks,
Meghan, Jory and Baby Emma
I have been homeless for seven years. In that time, I've been raped twice and my former boyfriend knocked out my front teeth because I refused to pan-handle for his drugs. A woman really needs a guy around when she's living in the woods. It's been hard, but the hardest thing has been trying to get and maintain a job while living in the woods. I'm married now, but in a lot of ways it's even more stressful for married couples who are homeless. It's just terrible living in the woods. We get tents from FACETS and then put them up on planks so the rain won't get in. Most days I have to get up at 5am to catch a bus so I can find a place to get a shower before catching another bus to go to work or look for a job. Then at the end of the day, I have to come back to the campsite and figure out what to do for food. We have a small propane grill now and we use FACETS' Hot Meals program, but it's still hard.
"I think a lot of people just think homeless people are a bunch of addicts, but most of us aren't. Most of us are trying to make things work and to just keep a job so we can get into housing. There are some people, though, who prey on the rest of us who are working or trying to work. You never know when someone is going to come by your tent with a knife. My husband works in construction and gets a check everyday, so a lot of times people will also just show up at our campsite and want to use his money so they can party. It's hard for him, too, because his job is so exhausting, so it's really difficult to do construction all day and then come back to a tent and sleep on the ground. The woods take a lot out of you. I mean, we'd like to come home and just watch TV and relax, like a lot of people. Luckily we do have a little radio so we can listen to some news and the weather. The weather channel can be especially important because trees fall all the time, especially in storms, and we always have to be careful - two years ago we were sitting in our tent and watched four trees near us fall like dominoes.
"FACETS has helped us so much. The Hypothermia Prevention Response program and the Hot Meals program have been a huge help to us, but FACETS also gives us tents, flashlights, tarps, sleeping bags - without them, what would we do? They've also helped me a huge amount with medical and dental issues. I recently went to the dentist with Bob Schon, FACETS' Medical Outreach Worker, and I am now scheduled for, at least, four more appointments. Now, I can get dentures for my upper front teeth so I can have a better appearance when I'm looking for a job as a receptionist. FACETS has also helped me with my resume and job searches, because, most of all, my husband and I just want to get out of the woods and into housing."
