My Street Sense Story

A city at night

Mark Ng/Flickr

One day I had got word that my mother would be losing her property in about 10 days. One thing led to another and I ended up sitting around the YWCA, with time on my hands.

One night I was waiting for one of my girlfriends who used to get off workaround midnight. I would make her some coffee. One day she told me, in a nice way, “Patty you sit around too much. Just because your mother lost her property is no reason for you to stop living.”

She said that she knew of a class that I could be taking over in Westmoreland. I thought that it was a typing class, but it turned out to be an entrepreneurship class. I talked to the teacher about a business where I would sell coffee. The class ended about 12 weeks later, but before I left he gave me a computer. I had also received a coffee pot from the Thomas Coffee Shop.

My friends at the YWCA started teaching me how to use the computer. Down the street from me was the Brian McKenzie information shop. I went there and met some of their college students, who taught me how to go on the Internet and job search.

That was how I found out that Street Sense was looking for vendors, this was in 2005. I have been with them ever since.


Region |Northwest|Washington DC

information about New Signature, a Washington DC tech solutions and consulting firm

Advertisement

email updates

We believe ending homelessness begins with listening to the stories of those who have experienced it.

Subscribe

RELATED CONTENT