The Road
*To Those Walking a Road I Know Too Well:*
If you’re on Social Security, SSI, or SSDI — hear me: you are _not_ counted out.
You can go to school. You can earn degrees. You can work through the system, not be trapped by it. There are programs, grants, and people who will walk with you. The door is not closed. It’s just waiting for you to knock.
We have to break the silence around homelessness. It’s not a character flaw — it’s a circumstance. And circumstances can change. I know, because I’ve lived it.
To the next generation: I want to teach you to look _within_ before you look outward. The world will tell you to chase titles, likes, and things that were never meant for you. But your real power starts inside.
Find your strengths. Name them. Own them.
Heal the unhealed trauma — it’s not weak to face it, it’s brave.
Know that you can rise from the ashes. You are in the cocoon now, but the metamorphosis is real. You were made to be the butterfly.
Young women especially: your story matters. Your past is not your prison. It’s the soil God uses to grow your wings.
My dream is to build a nonprofit that lays that foundation — so others can lift themselves up. Not a handout. A hand-up. A place to learn, to heal, to remember who you are.
You are not your lowest moment. You are not your diagnosis. You are not your bank account.
You are a child of God with a future. And it doesn’t matter where you start — it matters that you rise.
So look inward. Find your story. And when you’re ready… tell it. Because someone else needs your wings to know they can fly too.
