MEMPHIS, Tenn. — Memphis wants to end homelessness in one year, but those who have recently escaped living on the streets themselves say it’s not likely to happen.
The U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development awarded Shelby County $7 million to fight this problem.
Angeleik Smith, a mother of four children, said she used to be homeless and a drug addict. The home she was staying in was deemed unfit to live in, and she almost lost her kids.
“When DCS was on the porch they told me you can stay here, and we’ll take your children,” she said through tears. “I didn’t want my kids to go into foster care. I didn’t want to lose my children. I chose to leave with my kids.”
Smith is now a part of Promise Development Corporation’s Memphis Strong Families Initiative, a program that helps house homeless and extremely low income families.
“Since I’ve been here, I’ve been clean. I’ve been more happy. I’ve been able to save. It’s just been wonderful,” she said.
Smith is glad her kids now have a safe place to stay, but when it comes to the city’s goal of eliminating homelessness by 2016 for individuals and veterans, she finds it unrealistic.
“It might be kind of difficult, because some people like the way they live as homeless,” she said. “You’ve got some people who will step up to the plate to come get the help that’s out there, but they also have to have that mind to help themselves.”
Smith wants to see people take responsibility for their own lives. It is a lesson she learned the hard way and one she said she will never have to learn again.
“This is my step one,” she said. “My step two goals are to go back to school, have a better house, get back into church and raise my four children.”
The Memphis Union Mission reports there are about 2,000 homeless people in Memphis on any given day.
