Cathy – Home for the Holidays!

Cathy gave us a first person testimonial in an attempt to share what Pinellas Hope has meant to her:

“Hi, my name is Cathy. I live in Pinellas Hope. I arrived on July 2nd. It’s a wonderful place. I became homeless two years ago. I actually lived on the street for a year and was in and out of different shelters, but there’s nothing like Pinellas Hope. The people there are nice. They want to help you. They give you a great big 6-man tent to sleep in. If you are disabled, a cottage. I am disabled so I got put in a cottage. I can leave now because I got approved for my social security disability and it’s making me able to build my life back up again. I never expected at my age to be living on basically on concrete on the street for a year. People don’t realize that I’m not a drug addict, I don’t drink. People become homeless because they don’t have the resources to have a place to live. If you have no money, you can’t live anywhere. You have to pay bills. If you don’t have money, you can’t do it. This place is great. They offer you everything. They have a computer room, a classroom, a library, washers, dryers, bathrooms, showers. And anything you need here from personal products to reading glasses you can get and it’s all free and it’s all through donations. If it wasn’t for Pinellas Hope, I’d still be on the street.”

 

 

Epilogue: Cathy, with the assistance of her case manager, qualified for Social Security Disability Income and moved into her very own Pinellas Hope Apartment on November 12th! These apartments are subsidized, permanent, supportive efficiency units reserved for qualifying individuals with very low income.