More Than Food and Water
Beautiful.
Go-getter.
Talented.
And she just so happened to be homeless. That is, until last week.
With her permission, I thought I'd share her story.
With no immediate family and her mother's recent passing away, Teresa moved south, fell in love with it and bought a house, alongside her husband Mark. With Mark's mother's health failing, they drove to Chicago last winter to help her out, for what they thought would be just a few weeks. And it was at that point that they got the news. Mark had cancer. Serious. Stage 4.And it was then that Teresa found herself in a position she's never been in before. Up until that point, she'd been able to fix whatever came her way. She's a self-proclaimed 'fix-it-gal.' Between her positive attitude and her gifted abilities she'd never met a problem she couldn't solve.
That is, until her husband became terminally ill with cancer. Illness took over his body and found him fighting for his life. And for the first time ever, Teresa couldn't fix a problem. No control over his health. And with no place to go with her husband fighting for his life and medical bills stacking up, Teresa landed on the streets, and ultimately found her way to Breakthrough.That was in April, 2009. She was hopeless, not able to fix the problems that were swallowing her alive. One afternoon she found herself at the Garfield Park Conservatory and that, my friends, is where she did business with God. She was at the end of herself. For the first time in her life she decided to trust that He was what she needed.
She shared that she knew nothing about God and Jesus. She'd had no exposure to Him growing up. This was all brand new to her. She had no idea that you could talk to God like you could talk to a friend. It wasn't that she was anti-God, she just had no knowledge of a God who would care about her.
Listen to her heart on Breakthrough:
"Alysa, Breakthrough didn't just give me food and water. They helped me find God. And my life is totally different now. I have HOPE. {Emphasis mine but I couldn't resist because that's my word for this year!} They helped me find God and I'm forever grateful. I would have been in a rubber room by now, bouncing off the walls, without Breakthrough telling me about God." Wow. If that isn't powerful I don't know what is! {I have a feeling I know who might be next year's guest speaker at Breakthrough's annual fund raising event!}
We met Teresa that first time we visited Breakthrough, on July 22nd this summer. She's never met a stranger and within minutes of walking over to her table and introducing ourselves she gave hugs and encouragement and just kept holding up her sewing material saying, "This is my ticket outta here!" She's positive and refused to give up. She was not going to let her homeless circumstance get the best of her. And in the last couple of weeks, her hard work has paid off. Teresa got a job. And she got a place to live, too. That's HUGE.
We've fallen in love with Teresa. As you can tell by the pictures above, the kids are crazy about her too, and each time we've been with Teresa over the last several months I've been inspired. Moved. Challenged.
But I wasn't prepared for Friday. We went down to Breakthrough to wish her well on the new changes in her life, and out of nowhere I found myself crying. Sad and happy tears all jumbled together. I mean, I'm thrilled. She got a job. She got a place to stay. And yet, she was leaving Breakthrough. I was feeling sad that she wouldn't be at Breakthrough for our subsequent visits. I think for me, she and Patricia have come to be the face of Breakthrough. The heart of Breakthrough. And when I walk through those doors it's their faces and voices I want to see first. {We certainly love seeing the other ladies, too, but Teresa and Patricia captured a special piece of our hearts.}
So Teresa moves on. Which is absolutely FANTASTIC. I know we'll continue to see her because she's now in our life for good - cuz that's how we roll. In fact, I need to call her tomorrow because I must hear all about her new digs.
And we'll begin developing new relationships at Breakthrough. The reality is, we can't develop deep friendships with everyone there, so as each sweet lady claims victory in her life by finding work and stability and a longer-term housing, and hopefully God, we'll be excited. And will then look for new opportunities to reach out to the next couple of ladies, to see what God has in store for each of us. Building one relationship at a time.
*I wanted to add a side note to this post. Teresa is a gifted seamstress. She envisions something and is able to make it. Brilliant, for sure. She has all sorts of things for sale and I'd love to send business her way. She currently does not have a website, but when she does she'll have things for sale. A few months ago I posted an esty site for she and her partner, but things actually didn't work out between the two of them and it's best that you not go to that website to purchase. Long story. No need to go into the details. Just trust me on this one. If you're interested in seeing some of Teresa's work please leave a comment and I'll put you in touch with each other.