Connie "Glass Half Full"
Photo by Randy Bacon
I want people to know that no matter how hard things get, or how down you feel, or how depressed you are, try to always think of things on the good side. “Oh, the sun is shining, that’s a great thing”. Stay positive.
I became homeless when I was trying to get things situated knowing that I was going to be taking custody of my grandson. I was retired and I wasn’t working so I had to go to a place where I could get a job and housing so I could get custody of my grandson. In that process, sleeping in the car, well it just doesn’t work. I was told about Safe to Sleep so that’s where I went, and it was a blessing. I’ve been in my apartment for about a year now. I was at Safe to Sleep for about 3 months. For me, the hardest thing about being homeless is no privacy when you’re in the shelter. It’s really hard when you live in your car. There’s no place to shower and get yourself ready to go look for a job. But in the shelter, there’s no privacy; can’t really walk around the way you want to at night, you know. I am a very private person, and you have a tendency to run across people that don’t have a clue, to be blunt. I am not a drinker, and I don’t do drugs, but I have seen people on that end and it’s disturbing. So those were kind of hard things for me.
The best thing for me was being able to leave and go do what I had to do. I’m not a procrastinator so for me to get up early and head out and look for that job, put in applications that I needed to, and take whatever little bit of money I had to run an ad or to put an ad out on Craigslist or FB Marketplace to bring in some work; that’s pretty much what I was doing. The best advice that I learned from being homeless or just the best advice I could give someone would be, if you have faith, pray about it. That would be the ultimate thing because that for me was a daily thing. You might not want to do it, you might be embarrassed about it but my best advice is to get God in your life, because that’s what’s gonna pull you through. I would describe my life now as mediocre. Ha! I kinda go day by day. I’m an optimist, so I never see the glass as half empty. I’m half full all the time. I have my grandson home with me. He’s 19 and he’s staying with me right now. He’s a blessing. He kinda looks out for me. And, I have YouTube, so I’m great. Ha!
Photo by Randy Bacon
I got a lot of dreams in the works now. I’m waiting on my business license. I’m going to venture out again, even at this late stage, but it’ll be a mail business where I can mail out items. I’m going to make a trip to Egypt to get product. I’m going to sell ladies Egyptian dresses like the ones that I wear, often. I did a survey during the summer, and I got really great feedback on that, as far as the prices I would be selling them at. People are wanting many dresses and along with that some jewelry and some things like that. These items are authentic and made in Egypt. I’m going straight to Egypt and these items are hand-made there. In January or February, I’ll be going there and purchasing my product. And then at that time I’ll probably make a short trip to Managua, Nicaragua. Someplace I’ve wanted to visit as well, so I will do that. It’s gonna be a lot of scrimpin’ and savin’ to do it. I’ll be using a lot of my air miles. I can’t wait to get this stuff back; I’m taking two empty suitcases that’ll be packed to the nines with dresses and jewelry and stuff. I think it’s gonna go rather well. I’ve got someone working on a page; one for Facebook and TikTok. I’m not real savvy when it comes to things like that. I ran my own business for the last 17 years of my career and I like to do things for the community as well. So, for me that kind of goes hand in hand. Although, over the last couple of months, I’ve been so busy with my grandson, I haven’t been able to get back over there to bring food. I had my grandson the last time, he came with me, and I had made a whole lot of food and he’s never done that before. After we served the food up, on the way home he said, “Nana, I really feel good about that.” So, you know it left a good impression on him and maybe later when he has a little extra money or whatever, he can do that because that’s a way that I tithe.
I think if people can, just try to look on the bright side of everything. Pray to God for strength and if they need someone to pray…call me! I’ll pray for you right then and there. I’m a firm believer that prayer works. It’s only by the grace of God that I’ve made it this far in my life. Cause there’s been some tough times. But I try not to dwell on the bad things, bad things are gonna happen. I know that it’s hard when the bad things happen back-to-back. It can get you down and get you depressed. But, even if you just talk to a stranger about things, you know, you can talk to anybody. Like I said, call me. I got a good listening ear; I talk a lot but I got a good listening ear too! Just try to hang in there. It will get better.
Connie's story is brought to you in partnership with Safe To Sleep. Visit their website to learn more about how you can help.
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