The Best American Newspaper Narratives of 2012

Young Houstonians Go from Homelessness to College

Young Houstonians Go from Homelessness to College The Houston Chronicle July 22, 2012 By Monica Rhor That first night, surrounded by strangers, still shell-shocked after her family was cast onto the street, Tiara Reado shrank back into childhood. The teenager stayed glued to her mother's side, following her around the Star of Hope shelter like a toddler. When the older woman stirred, Tiara stirred with her, whispering, "Mommy, where are you going? Mommy, I'm coming with you." Then Tiara cried. She cried when they had to camp on the floor, next to dozens of other homeless families. She cried when they moved into a cramped room with narrow cots and cinderblock walls. She cried when she realized they had no place else to go. For seven days straight, she cried. 212 TheBestAmericanNewspaperNarrativesof2012 What else can you do when you're 16 and your dad is out of work and your family has just been evicted? What else can you do when you're just a kid—scared and sleepy and hungry? A few months later, Courtney Williams was huddled on the floor of the same shelter, sharing space with the unknown and clutching his Bible. The 17-year-old's family had just been kicked out of their apartment. His mother had been very sick for a very long time and he was on the verge of dropping out of school. The whole world, it seemed, was conspiring against him. So, Courtney bowed his head over the Book of Proverbs, sobbed quietly and prayed. All night long, he cried. What else could he do? On those dark nights of tears, when everyday teenage dreams were displaced by uncertainty, Tiara and Courtney cried for the homes they lost, the proms they wouldn't attend, the colleges they couldn't afford. What they didn't yet know was that, sometimes, falling into shadow will lead you to the light. *** With its boxy industrial-green exterior and pungent ammonia-cleaner smell, the Star of Hope Women and Family Emergency Shelter is a place of last resort, a safety net for those in a downward spiral—and a hard gulp for families losing the fight for subsistence. "When people come here, they are acknowledging that they can't make it on their own," said Marilyn Fountain, Star of Hope's director of community relations. "There's a certain kind of humiliation that comes with that. It's a tough place to be." The Houston Chronicle 213 Tough enough for the adults who trudge through the doors, clasping plastic bags stuffed with belongings and carrying the slight shrug of defeat on their shoulders. Much tougher still for the children. Some too young to understand. Others, like Tiara and Courtney, old enough to feel the keen edge of fear and embarrassment. On any given day, more than half of the 300 people crowded into the emergency shelter are under age 18. Of the 600 people staying in various Star of Hope facilities, about 200 are children. "They have no control over their circumstances. They didn't create it and they can't change it," said Fountain. "Children live more in the moment, and the moment in which they are living is fraught with images of deprivation ." That moment doesn't last forever. But when you're a teenager, and life has been full of bumps and bruises and blows, it can feel like an eternity. *** By the time Tiara and her family landed at Star of Hope in the summer of 2010, the good years of her early childhood had dissolved into a long patch of bad. In middle school, taunts about boys from mean girls escalated into a cycle of fights and suspensions, turning school into a gauntlet of bullying. When she was about 13, Tiara was sexually assaulted by a boy she liked, a trauma she kept hidden for months. Then, her father, a sandblaster who works out of state, was hurt on the job and had no way to support the family. Bills piled up. Rent was overdue. One day, Tiara's mother sat her down and told her they had been evicted. "Ma, where are we going? Is there a house I don't know about?" Tiara asked, feeling lost, confused, and achingly useless. 214 TheBestAmericanNewspaperNarrativesof2012 At first they stayed with Tiara's grandmother, but after a disagreement, they were on the streets again. Tiara searched on...