“We are not going to give up.”
Eight years ago I could never have imagined I would be in my first year of law school at Southern Methodist University in Dallas.
Studying the law was a recurring dream as I was finishing high school in Pittsburgh, Pa. I hoped to attend college, apply for law school, pass the bar, practice law and someday become a judge.
One day my dream was hijacked by a nightmare — actually a series of nightmares that left my family homeless and my education and career goals literally under water.
A 2012 blizzard dumped 12 inches of snow across Pittsburgh. In the spring the snow melted rapidly and water seeped into the basement of the leased home shared by me and my mother, Tamara Williams. The health department deemed the house “uninhabitable” unless the landlord made repairs. While he procrastinated, we fell ill due to the toxic effects of mold growing in the structure. Shortly thereafter, our home was “red tagged” and we were given five days to pack and move out.
With nowhere to go we became Pittsburgh “homeless” statistics and began bouncing around to shelters or temporary living situations provided by friends. We were in this situation because my mother had lost her job due to health issues and was forced to apply for social security disability benefits — our only sources of income until I could land part-time jobs.
Realizing our living options were about to evaporate in Pittsburgh we accepted an offer to live with a family friend in Atlanta — only to realize he struggled with gambling addiction and couldn’t pay bills, like the utilities. When we lost power and water service we were forced to leave and fortunate to find a three-bedroom place in Covington, Ga. Happy to have a home, we bought mattresses, settled in during the summer and were able to live off of my Mother’s disability check and my jobs at K-Mart and Red Lobster.
