Kimberely House
Cares Instructor
479-242-4192
Lucky lived without a home for fifteen years. The last ten were here in Fort Smith where he lived with many others on the river. Lucky’s homelessness wasn’t by his choice. He developed an illness that made working difficult and eventually impossible.
He was used to work and had held construction jobs for most of his life. He had no other skills and the “smaller” jobs hired more robust and young workers. Eventually, he was forced to live on the streets.
But, Lucky isn’t complaining. He is simply reporting the facts of his life. This seventy year old man, with a big heart and sincere eyes that speak with a combination of seriousness and laughter, continued to share. He tells of the time his breathing became very difficult and how local agencies helped him.
He had been resourceful in getting access to certain medications and even had the assistance of a local businessman who had befriended him at times. But, as his illness progressed, he needed more consistent care. A generous couple at the Arkansas Dream Center helped him apply for Social Security; and he found Patty at Crawford Sebastian Community Development Council who helped him get into a home for the first time in fifteen years.
“It was difficult at first to get adjusted to sleeping inside.” Lucky tells about his home and the van he purchased when he first received his Social Security check. He mentions that he knows how to eat cheap.
“A lot of people are a little cynical about homeless people. They try to characterize or pigeon-hole us. They think we’re stupid people. But there are a lot of us who don’t do drugs, who never hurt anybody, who don’t do anything like that.”
Lucky’s’ story is about the hope he found in the help provided by agencies, but is quick to tell you, it was the people who worked there that made the difference for him.
Sadly, soon after this interview Lucky passed away in his apartment at seventy years old. He will always be remembered as a kind and gentle soul.
At sixteen, Tabitha met someone while working at a fast food restaurant. He introduced her to meth. She loved the high, and used a lot through high school. At nineteen she was pregnant and stopped doing meth during her pregnancy, but started back after giving birth to lose weight. By twenty, Tabitha discovered using meth intravenously would intensify her high. And so began her downfall.
Tabitha found heroin, and she found herself homeless. In Arkansas, she moved from couch to couch, but when she moved to San Francisco, she slept outside in cardboard boxes, in alleys and in jail. The drugs took her to lows she never thought possible. Tabitha recalls being kicked awake by a police officer after she had slept outside a restaurant. He gruffly told her to “get lost”. At one point Tabitha was sentenced to a rehabilitation center, but relapsed.
Once Tabitha returned to Arkansas she landed in drug court. “They didn’t have to give me another chance, but they did.” Tabitha managed by eating at the Next Step Dayroom and getting help from local churches, Community Services Clearing House, DHS and the Salvation Army. “It was sometimes challenging getting all the required documents and getting around to every place, but I was happy to be getting help.” Things were going well until she missed one of her drug court initiated appointments. “I was angry they sent me back to treatment!” But now she is grateful for the experience. She got clean and started rebuilding her life.
She applied for housing assistance before she was sent to rehab and “by the grace of God” when she left the rehabilitation center, six months later, housing was available. “I lived in the same apartment for five years. I was determined to create stability in my life.” And she did just that.
Today, Tabitha works as a counselor at Gateway House helping women get free from the type of life she was able to escape. “I remember feeling hopeless and thinking this was the way my life was going to be, so why even try?” Now she spends her days helping others find hope.
Sometimes we find ourselves in a situation that we would have never thought was possible, but with faith and support we can rise above what brought us down and emerge with more than we thought we could. This is the story of how Mike and Karen found more than self-sufficiency at HOPE Campus.
When the doors of HOPE Campus opened on September 29, 2017, Mike B was among the first residents, arriving on the first of October. He had been on the street since 2011. Mike spent most of his time in the library, reading and keeping it clean; he had no idea how much the library would change his life. Three months after arriving at HOPE Campus, a woman walked into the library and into Mike’s life.
Karen found herself at HOPE Campus after losing everything that she had with no place to go. She arrived at HOPE Campus on January 22, 2018 and that last thing that she had her mind was meeting a man. Karen’s last husband was verbally and emotionally abusive so understandably, she was skeptical of any man. Like Mike, Karen enjoyed the library and spent quite a lot of time there. When Karen met Mike, there were several things that she liked about him; his intelligence, his big heart and his faith in God. Her interest in the library became less about the books and more about Mike, but because of her past, she was vigilant for signs that Mike was like the cold, callous man that she was with previously. Would his demeanor and the way that he treated her change? Is this an act to cover his true intentions? These are the thoughts of every victim of domestic abuse.
After five months, a friend of Mike’s asked him if he was interested in any of the ladies at HOPE Campus. He replied, “Well, if I had to choose, it would be Karen”. Thinking that this was just idle conversation between friends, Mike did not give it a second thought. Little did he know, his friend was playing matchmaker. The friend told Karen what Mike had said and the seeds of love were planted. In May, they started spending more time together with Mike inviting Karen to his church, introducing her to his pastor and slowly gained her trust and showed her what it was like to be loved and cherished. At the end of May, Mike asked Karen to be his wife. Karen accepted, saying “God made me trust a man again and gave me the strength to love”. They were married in September at HOPE Campus with Dewayne, who is not just an intake coordinator but an ordained minister, officiating. Mike and Karen have successfully transitioned into self-sufficiency and have grown their family with the addition of a sweet, lovable puppy.
In one year, the lives of these two individuals were changed forever and they found more than HOPE, they found a new life; one with love, companionship and faith renewed.
Amber W. and Johanne T., both arrived at the HOPE Campus on December 3, 2018. When they arrived at HOPE Campus, Amber was working at a local agency and her fiancée had just started a job working for OK Foods. Amber is a 25 year old female, who moved with her fiancée, Johannes from Texas. When they arrived at the HOPE Campus, they were very eager to meet with their case manager to discuss their needs. Upon meeting the young couple, their case manager realized they had the motivation to begin their own program to help them meet their needs to move into their own place. Johannes was waiting on his job to begin at the time of their first meeting, he was eager to follow his own program to help him and his fiancée to hurry and get their own place. This young couple had completed all requirements that their case manager had asked of them within a couple of hours. They appeared to be excited to be able to complete their tasks in a timely manner and even days before they were due to be completed. Their case manager informed them of a program provided by the CSCDC to help the homeless population to be able to get a place of their own. When they became informed of the program, they were excited to do whatever they could to get their own house quickly. They met with the coordinator of the CSCDC and received a voucher to get an apartment. Once they received their voucher they were able to find a place and moved into their own apartment 10 days after moving into the Hope campus. At this time of update, Amber is still working at her job and Johannes has currently moved to a different position within his company. He is working a couple of blocks of the HOPE Campus; he returns a couple of times a week to eat dinner and to visit with his case manager.
My situation is not somebody else's fault and I don't blame anyone. I have made some poor decisions that led me here. I made the decision to reach out to Hope Campus. My case manager listened to what I had been through and helped me get to where I wanted to go. Thomas utilized our Housing Solution Program and others crucial to his success. Enjoy your new home Thomas!
When David learned of Hope Camus he thought, well at least I might have shelter for a few nights, not knowing what we do or anything about our services. Working with his case manager, David started his Social Security Disability paperwork, and after all was submitted, and many months of waiting , he was approved. He was determined to get things in his life together and just needed a bit of encouragement and guidance. David now has a new place and are so proud.