
Katy – Community on the Streets
I met Katy at beautiful Five Points Park, a downtown anchor of the arts and entertainment of Sarasota, surrounded by the Opera House, Selby Public Library and several high-end stores and restaurants. Katy was sitting in a small circle of what appeared to be a cohesive group her people. Katy reminded me of an adult Shirley Temple with her bouncy brown curls and an expansive smile. She told me that her ‘street family’ calls her Cheeks, Smiley, and sometimes Happy Feet because of the way she walks like a duck. She smiles broadly making light of herself as she describes her gait.
Katy is a pleasant, twenty-six-year-old woman and she has been living on the street since she was sixteen years old. She first became homeless when her mother discovered that she had been stealing her Roxies, an instant release opioid, and threw her out of their home. Her family of origin lives in neighboring Nokomis, Florida. It struck me that Katy appeared to hold no bitterness towards her mother. I explored a little further, but incredibly Katy expressed no anger or resentment and assured me that she now thinks her mother acted appropriately. Katy’s experience of being permanently expelled from her home at sixteen undeniably limited her life options, leaving her highly vulnerable with a heightened risk of homelessness.
Katy is, however, upbeat in describing her circumstances and considers herself a competent, skilled caregiver of her ‘street family.’ She views the street as her home and her community. She says, “I don’t have a job, a car or a house, but I’m happy here.” Katy feels comfortable in her community based upon shared experiences and the cultural norms and boundaries that have been established amongst the homeless men and women in her community. Katy spoke of feeling safe with her ‘street family,’ partly because of her established caretaking role in her community.
Interestingly, a community is for all intents and purposes a sociological construct with its own established and agreed upon values and governing order. Evidently, Katy feels a sense of belonging and unity in hers. At its core, for all of us, any community is about finding a place that we consider home. It seems that belonging is an integral human need and community offers the much-needed support and human connection we all crave. Her ‘street family’ is comprised of people she trusts will be there for her no matter what happens in her life and she, in turn, will do the same for them. Katy has managed to make a life for herself on the streets and feels accomplished in her own right in her community with her ‘street family.’
Katy embodies Maya Angelou’s quotation, “try to be the rainbow in someone’s cloud.”
To assist Streets of Paradise in our outreach efforts, please donate here
#awareness, #community, #housing, #poverty, #resilience, #streetsofparadise, #support, #volunteer, #weareone
smoretraiolit
Hi , I do believe this is an excellent blog. I stumbled upon it on Yahoo , i will come back once again. Money and freedom is the best way to change, may you be rich and help other people.
best CBD Oil
Right here is the right website for anybody who wishes to find out about this topic. You understand a whole lot its almost tough to argue with you (not that I actually will need to…HaHa). You definitely put a brand new spin on a subject that’s been discussed for ages. Great stuff, just wonderful!|
senior portraits San Antonio
Hello. impressive job. I did not imagine this. This is a remarkable story. Thanks!
Charlottesville heating and cooling contractor
Wohh exactly what I was looking for, appreciate it for posting.
here are the findings
naturally like your web site but you need to take a look at the spelling on quite a few of your posts. Many of them are rife with spelling problems and I find it very troublesome to tell the reality nevertheless I will surely come back again.
Channel 11 kan
Thank you for the sensible critique. Me & my neighbor were just preparing to do some research about this. We got a grab a book from our area library but I think I learned more clear from this post. I’m very glad to see such great info being shared freely out there.
Les Pti Tutos
Really informative and good structure of subject material, now that’s user genial (:.
try here
I was very pleased to find this net-site.I wished to thanks in your time for this wonderful read!! I positively enjoying every little bit of it and I have you bookmarked to check out new stuff you weblog post.