Hi. My name is Tessie. I consider myself proud, able
bodied and smart and so never thought I have to depend
on others for help or charity. But sometimes bad things
happen to good people and my bad thing was my husband:
he became addicted to drugs and alcohol and, to feed
his habit, slowly sold our home from under us.
One day, when there was nothing left to sell, I found
myself and my three children evicted and penniless on
a Seattle street.
Being a recent immigrant to this country, I had no family
or friends here to call upon for help; I had nothing
and was terrified that we’d have to sleep on the
streets. I heard through my church that the YWCA helped
homeless women and so I went there for help.
Our YWCA case manager listened to our story with respect
and compassion; she helped us get into a shelter for
60 days and linked us up with food and clothing resources.
I felt so relieved - during our first weeks at the shelter;
I saw the color return to my children’s faces
and heard them laughing and playing again.
During that time, my husband was threatening us and
my children were very afraid of him. My case manager
referred to the YWCA Legal Advocacy Program where a
legal advocate helped me to understand my legal rights.
With her help, I obtained an order restraining him from
contacting or hurting us and got custody of my children.
After that, she then helped me to start divorce proceedings
and in another 5 weeks my divorce will be through.
After about 8 weeks, we got to move to “transitional
housing”; this is case-managed housing for low
income families; we can stay here for year while I work
on getting a decent job and an apartment.
Although I felt sorry for myself at first, I now count
myself as lucky; my children and I have been given a
second chance and I know not everybody gets one.
What I want to say to everyone is that it’s no
shame to fall on hard times; and that when that happens
it’s important to ask for help because there is
help out there. Also please, please don’t think
of it as handouts; the way I see it I was given a helping
hand and the tools to get back on my feet and I know
that I will.
