LITTLE ROCK

PHOTO BY RANDY BACON

LITTLE ROCK’S STORY

My street name is Little Rock. I prefer if you don’t mention my real name for safety reasons. I moved out here five years ago to be closer to my mom because she has a bad heart problem. My mom’s the only family I have here and I want to take care of her. As far as a spouse, let’s just say I’m separated. The most important thing I want people to know is you don’t know what I’ve been through. Don’t judge me just because of the way I act or how I look. When I first became homeless it was because I had to flee for my children’s safety. Like I said, I came out five years ago wanting to be closer to my parents and too, for my kids’ safety. And then they moved out here. Go figure. My mom was actually on the streets before I was. She helped me get situated. And she’s taking care of my girls while I get situated. They live with her. I see them every week. How it goes depends on the day. I love seeing them, I really do. I miss them with all my heart but sometimes I don’t find myself in the right frame of mind to be around them.

I deal with being homeless by having goals. Things I want to get done. Like, when I first came out here, I didn’t have a job. I now have a job. Now my next thing on my list, get a place. I work at Chick-fil-a. I love it there. I mean it’s a cool environment. I don’t have to work on Sundays. It’s great. I went to vocational rehab. I’m legally deaf. And I have a very, very rare condition – basically allergic to my sweat, so trying to find a job was really hard because I was a stay-at-home mom for fourteen years. It was quite a transition.

To me the hardest part of being on the streets is it’s like a hurry up and wait game. You have to hurry up, get out of one place so you can get to another. But you have to wait for them to open, too. It’s the being out in the cold that’s the hardest for me. The cold or the heat, depending on what season. That’s the hardest part for me besides being away from my children.

I’ve learned that everybody has a different story. They might be similar but they’re all different. Sometimes people judge people because of what they think or what they hear or what they see. You shouldn’t judge anyone unless you’ve walked a mile in their shoes. It’s like, I get looks when I go on the bus with my stuff. I don’t have a place where I can just store it. That’d be great. So when I go on the bus and I have like my suitcase and my backpack, I get looks. Some people won’t talk to me because, “obviously she’s homeless.” And I don’t think that’s a really good thing. I think that’s very bad because a lot of people, a lot of homeless, and I’ve met quite a few being this way, are actually kind of cool. Don’t judge. That’s the biggest advice I can give you. Don’t judge.