Living life in a shelter
By Marsha Martinez
Urban Roots Reporter
Maria Riley has a balcony in her home. It may not seem that way
to most people, but to Maria and her family it does.
"It's a fire escape, but we call it our balcony," she says, referring to an area big enough for only one person at a time.
Maria, 26, her husband, Otis, 35, and their son, Otis Carvin, 5, live in a small room with two beds, a window and "a balcony." Their temporary home is at the Women and Family Shelter.
In the United States, 40 percent of the homeless population is homeless families. Fathers or husbands usually don't live in the shelters. Sometimes families must separate.
At the Women and Family Shelter, a remodeled hotel in Seattle's International District operated by the Union Gospel Mission, mothers and fathers and their children live here. Single parents with children and single women stay here, too. It serves a daily average of 80 people, offering them work programs and social services.
The Rileys have lived here since April. This is where they have received support and a second chance at rebuilding their life.
Maria is Hispanic, short and wears a gold cross around her neck. Otis is African American, muscular with a square face. On this day, they sit at the dining table in the shelter, talking about how they got here and where they would like to go.
They met six years ago in California and were married last year on July 28, Maria says. Five months later, Otis moved to Seattle because he had lived here before.
He lived with family for three weeks but then lived on the street for three days before he was able to move into the Union Gospel Mission Men's Shelter. In April, Maria and little Otis moved to Seattle and all three of them moved into the shelter where they live now.
At first, Maria worked at a local McDonald's. But there was no one to watch over their son so Maria quit.
Otis works part time as a longshoreman. The couple also volunteers in the shelter kitchen. Otis sweeps the floor and Maria is a prep cook.
Maria and Otis walk through the shelter kitchen holding hands.
Guy LeDuc, director of pastoral care and counseling direction at the shelter, sees them and calls out, "The honeymooners." The couple laughs.
Maria says she loves the chicken cooked here.
"It's like eating at Kentucky Fried Chicken," she says.
The shelter serves three meals a day. Seconds are available if there is food left over.
"We're never lacking in any way," Otis says.
Residents must follow rules while living in the shelter, where they can stay for one year or even a little longer. The rules include attending three Bible-study classes a week and meeting their case worker once a week.
The shelter distributes warnings to residents who skip Bible study or one of the social-service classes, such as parenting.
"I call them tickets," Maria says.
After three warnings, residents are given an exit warning.
The shelter rewards residents who follow the rules. Recently, the shelter gave the family tickets to a Seattle Mariners game.
Little Otis "had a blast," his mother says. "He wanted to jump and grab the fireworks when they went off in the Kingdome."
The couple walks up to the third floor, where the hallways are narrow. This place looks as if it could be an apartment building.
Maria walks into the television room. It is decorated with an alphabet animal poster and furniture that looks new. This is where little Otis watches his favorite cartoon, the "Mighty Morphin' Power Rangers," Maria says.
Down the hall from the television room is the laundry room and the clothing room. The clothing room is where people can get something new and different to wear.
It's like one big walk-in closet. Everything in the room is free. Shoes are in boxes; clothing on hangers. If there is nothing a person likes, the shelter distributes vouchers so residents can go to another place.
Across the hall is the Rileys' room. Maria peeks in to see if her room is clean. She thinks it is.
Otis and Maria's bed is next to the "balcony." Little Otis' bed is nearest to the door and is covered with a "Space Jam" blanket: slam-dunking Michael Jordan surrounded by green, helmeted aliens.
There is a sink next to a dresser covered with hair products. There are stuffed animals on the bed and toys on the floor and in a trash can that is used as a toy box.
On the walls are crayon pictures drawn by little Otis to remind his mother to stop smoking. Otis has a Mike Tyson and Evander Holyfield poster on the wall. He wants to turn pro next year and one day become the light heavyweight champion of the world.
Otis would like a job as a corrections worker. Maria wants to work as a registered nurse.
This is a good place, the couple says. The shelter provides job training. The staff treats everyone like an equal and motivates residents to "get out and perform."
The shelter takes people regularly to low-income housing areas to look for a permanent place to live. The Rileys hope to find a permanent home soon.
And in their dreams, home is a blue, two- story, five-bedroom house on Beacon Hill.
Did you know?*The average age of a homeless person in America is 9. * The fastest growing homeless population in America is families. * Children under the age of 18 make up 28 percent of Seattle's homeless population. Source: National Coalition for the Homeless, a national homeless advocacy network, and Homes for the Homeless, a private non-profit organization based in New York City Web sites |
