NANCY

PHOTO BY RANDY BACON

NANCY’S STORY

I moved here in 1996. My husband had taken my kids for five years and I was trying to settle somewhere and this is where he had taken them from the time before. So anyway, I came back. I knew I had to stay stationary and get a job and look for them.  And I did that. And the detectives got ahold of me and said they’d found my kids five years later. I knew my kids would need constant attention so I dropped my job, went and got my kids, (I have seven children), and brought them here.

That’s the beginning of it. Their behavior was so bad, I had to put them in behavior disorder homes. I tried to keep them in my home off and on, but they were uncontrollable for me, and even them. Okay, we got that done and I had to move several times. I was never actually homeless, but I’ve been so close to homeless that I can relate to homeless people, and I know that I can be homeless and anybody can be homeless at any time. So I think we ought to have compassion for each other and realize that we can be just as bad, or we can climb ourselves back up. Some of us are worse than others and mentally or physically are not able to. I know it’s been a real struggle for me, but I’ve seen some real good come out of it. That’s another thing that can make people homeless. My husband was Catholic and they wouldn’t keep me from having children, and not only did that wear me out mentally and physically, but spiritually and everything else too. So I’ve been trying to rebuild my life, and their lives. Because their lives matter above all and they’ve been through a lot too. My insurance pays for me to go to the YMCA and that helps me to physically build myself, and mentally. Winter’s really hard on me because I can’t get out as much and do as much.

Right now, the way I keep myself busy, I go to the YMCA, I volunteer with the homeless community. If other places need a little volunteering I’ll do a time or two, a day or two or whatever. I think it’s important for everyone to do what good they can do in the world, because they live in this world too. And so do their children, and anyone else they know and love. I’m on disability, and I’ve tried working for money, but I can’t do it. I can’t work enough to make a living. But I can volunteer. And I volunteer at things I like to do. And to me, when you help somebody, you’re not just helping that somebody. You’re helping your community. You’re helping everybody. Now who of us wants to see somebody sleeping on the street? This is a battle with me. I want to bring a person or two off the street and give them a place for the night. In some cases some of them decided to get violent or whatever. And I know every story isn’t like that. That’s a struggle for me. Because I would want somebody helping me, and they could see that I wouldn’t be taking advantage of them. But there’s a lot of people that are. And that’s part of what makes it hard to help--because people will take advantage. But anytime you help somebody, you shouldn’t care if they’re going to take advantage of you.

I want people to know that things really aren’t what they look like--what they seem. You look at me, you can’t see I have a disability at all, except I’m short. Point being, you really can’t judge people. And I know that I’ve tried the best that I could with what I have. And I try to fight for what is important to me. I don’t care what anybody else thinks. I go dancing. That’s something I like and I enjoy. And I don’t mean anything bad towards people, but at the same time I’m going to do what makes me happy and what makes others happy.

My dream for the future would be to own a bed and breakfast where all my kids and grandkids can have a room but we could still run a business. We could all be together. We don’t all live in the same state now, some live in Florida, Michigan, Kentucky… so that’s kind of an impossible dream. But I’d like for us all to be together.

(In memory of Nancy Wood who passed away unexpectedly in August 2017 after suffering a stroke.)