Project Hope

Nilaya began the podcast with, “It happens simultaneously, losing your keys, getting papers, instant loss of self esteem.” She said that you feel hopeless and invisible the day u become homeless. You feel as if you are no longer in the rest of the population and you do not have a place to start. You do not know where to start, and you say where do I go today or where do I start today, and begin to feel subhuman.

Nilaya, became homeless when she ended an abusive relationship. She now lived on one income instead of 2, so she sought a roommate which worked out well until they were laid off. She then said to herself maybe I can get two jobs. Can I pay 1200 and utilities? It was impossible and out of the question. No possibilities with her, especially with a small child, it is hard to ask for help from friends.

Where did I fail she asked herself. It is the matter of one paycheck. Unable to pay her rent and not wanting to ask friends for help, she looked for shelters to go to. She was denied emergency bed because she was not evicted; she left willingly because she did not want to ruin the good relationship she had with her landlord. She said it made it harder because she was lying on a community bed which was scarce and full.

She then ended up at project hope. In a bad situation it was the best thing that happened to her. They helped her in many ways. In that moment Project Hope was good for her but she wondered because she was still on a waiting list. Homes for Families help homeless families find places to call home. She listened to the meetings because they brought food. She started to see changes in things they were working on, and it then clicked for her because she saw results. It took her another year to find a home in Massachusetts, which happens far too many times. She met with groups of parents that claimed they were glad it happened to them because they view homeless people as bad when in fact they were homeless. Being in Project Hope changed their viewpoints on people. It was not instant gratification but it was important to understand the bigger picture and important to understand the impact we can have on the community as a whole.