This is shelter life!

In today's changed and changing economy I meet people everyday who are looking for employment or working in a field that has nothing to do with their formal education, but everything to do with their passion for life.  In America, a lot of people are in the same boat.  Some seemingly are more blessed or have a  less rocky adventure to live.  When things happens in such a big nation as ours, and an individual has no real family at hand, or does not want to impose, the individual can, for the first time in their life, end up living in a shelter.  I knew of a sweet, elderly woman who had been swindled.  The swindler began a domino effect of debt.  This lady today is in a shelter in America.  I know of a man who was hit by an uninsured car.  The system treated his immediate and visible physical wounds and then left him to recover.  The man had retrograde amnesia.   This man today is in a shelter in America.  In this large country of ours, the outcome of the rocks on our road of life seem to be linked to the location of where we stumble.  

I am one such person that stumbled on a rock thrown on my road.   The rock caused a detour which has been bittersweet.  I have learned from the bitter, but focus on the sweet.  Thus the detour has led me to  the beauty of my former stomping grounds of Lincoln Park.  In Lincoln Park  you'll find the diversity of DePaul, a worldclass park, zoo, conservatory, quaint cafes, boutiques and charming shops.  And, if you walk down one treelined street with grand greystones you just might see me or my mates climbing down the stairs to the church basement where I currently live.  This scene goes on all across America.  For me,  I have been blessed with a great location.  And from this location have come great volunteers.  This is shelter life!

--Alicia, LPCS Guest