YouthBuild Providing Concrete Workforce Development

My journey of homelessness started when I was 14 years old. Now that I have been accepted to the Sasha Bruce YouthBuild program, I am working towards my GED and learning a trade in H-VAC/Plumbing.

I was living with my Aunt in MD and she decided one day that I was not following her rules and as such told me to leave. I left her house and had no place to go so I slept in vacant houses and on the playground for a month, until I decided to go back to my mother’s boyfriend house. I lived with my mother and her boyfriend for a few months until my mother’s boyfriend and I got into an altercation on my 16th birthday on October 6 2007. I then went to live with at my best friend mother for seven months until I got into a fight with a person who lived in the house with us.

I left that house and went to live with my 21-year-old brother and his girlfriend who was pregnant at the time. After two weeks, my brother’s girlfriend and I got into an argument because I did not wash the dishes when she told me to. She threatened to put me out so I rode out the next day. I went to a friend of the family who accepted me for two weeks. I decided to leave that house because another friend offered me a place to stay with him. After a few weeks of living with my friend I left and ended up back on the streets of DC living at the side of buildings and alley ways for a week before I was accepted to the Sasha Bruce House. I was then accepted to the Sasha Bruce Independent Living Program (ILP) where I have been residing for the past seven months. ILP has been a blessing because it put a roof over my head and stability in my life. I am now accomplishing goals that I never dreamed I would have accomplished if I was living on the street. Since I have been at ILP I have been accepted to the Sasha Bruce Youth Build program, where I am working towards my GED and learning a trade in H-VAC/Plumbing. I have opened a savings account and have made “Outstanding Resident” for two months since I moved into the program.

Now that I have a safe place to rest my head at night I have many more great plans for my future. I now anticipate finding gainful employment and moving into my own apartment when I graduate the program. I am grateful for Sasha Bruce because this has been the longest place I have lived since I was 12 years old and I can now see my life changing for the better and I have hope for a better future as opposed to living on the streets with no future at all.

11/23/2009