Finding a safe haven to regroup turned life around
Born and raised on Oahu, growing up was hard. The lifestyle that I chose and who I was made the relationship and approval from my family difficult. Things got so bad that I decided to leave and live my own life.
I was 14, had no money and nowhere to go, so I started prostituting and eventually got heavy into drugs when I turned 17. Things were spiraling down for me as I didn’t finish school; I was on the streets high on drugs. Eventually I got into trouble and was incarcerated and sent to jail. I was in jail for 18 months — and I was battling depression and hearing voices due to the constant drug use.
It was hard, but it was during that time that I could reflect about my life. It was then that I decided that I would have to do things on my own to get my life back.
Doing my time in prison, I met a friend who told me that transgenders were allowed to stay at the IHS women’s shelter. This really made an impact and gave me hope because no other shelter would allow someone like me to live with the women. I would usually have to live with men at other shelters, which made me feel uncomfortable and more insecure about myself.
I am so thankful for IHS. I felt safe and it was somewhere I could get a new start. I was tired of the life I lived and this gave me the confidence in myself to change my life. I needed a change. Even if I still battled from my depression and mental health issues, the staff and the other IHS guests opened their doors to support me — and this started my road to recovery and getting my family and life back.
It was IHS’ structure, supportive services offered and the fact that they never forced me to do anything they didn’t want me to do that helped me beyond words. They left it up to me and I could take my time to figure things out and go at my own pace.
I was at IHS for over a year and at that time I made friends, took classes to better myself and find a job, and volunteered at IHS functions. My depression got better and I was feeling good about myself. I was doing so well I was honored that case managers nominated me as a guest counselor: I would teach a class to new women who entered the shelter.
The IHS Hele 2 Work program had classes like budgeting, resume writing and more, to help me prepare to get my job — which I got on my own, and I love it!
The IHS housing department helped me get my apartment that I am in now. Without my own place, I don’t know how I would have been able to hold my job and focus on myself.
There were many obstacles I had to overcome to get where I am today. I have been clean and sober for more than three years — but it was my depression and mental health issues caused from the drugs that made me not like who I was. It really hurt me.
Today, I have my own apartment, I have a job, my relationship with my family is better, and I am sustaining and living life. I want to give back to the community and tell people my story.
If you really want to change your life, you can do it. For me I made that choice, and IHS helped me do it.
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Nalani Johnson is a former guest of The Institute for Human Services.
IHS chief notes blessings, generosity that aid mission
The rhythms of managing an enterprise that provides a safety net for homeless people in our community rarely allows me much time for reflection because of the urgent situations people bring or send to our doorsteps every day. But, a holiday like Thanksgiving is wonderful respite and a welcome reminder to practice the discipline of gratitude.
The challenges that IHS (Institute for Human Services) faced in the past year were likely common to many nonprofit service providers: more effort to raise enough revenues to carry out our mission, more dire need among those we serve, an economic environment that widens the gap between those that can enjoy the fruits of their labor and those who are struggling to make ends meet, government that has become ever less reliable or responsive as partners due to bureaucratic rigidity and scarcer resources. We are truly asked to do more with no increase in resources (if we are lucky) and in some cases, with even fewer resources.
In the face of all this, I’m deeply grateful this season for so much. Every day, I can count as blessings:
>> The knowledge that sometime during the day, staff at IHS will be a comforting presence in the lives of people who have been beaten down by life’s painful surprises or betrayals and left with little hope for change.
>> People in and outside of our organization with amazingly generous hearts full of compassion who thrive on giving, healing and encouraging.
>> Partnerships with many other organizations whose missions intersect with ours.
>> People in government who haven’t yet given up and continue to make valiant efforts to tame bureaucracy so that government can live true to its purpose of serving its citizens.
>> Living in a nation that, despite its many faults and challenges, is still founded on the premise that we all have an equal chance at happiness in our lives
Homelessness is so complex and controversial. So many people have different ideas about what the answer is for our homeless problem in Hawaii. But most who think they know, don’t realize that the solution needs to be a menu of solutions.
In a culture where fast food abounds on every street corner, people pop pills for instant weight loss, smart phones and the e-cloud deliver instant messages and stores data for instant retrieval, surely there must be a quick solution for our homeless problem. Sorry, it doesn’t work that way. People need genuine aloha. They need personal help and treatment — someone to listen. They need a home. These take time and all the services in the world won’t make a difference if we don’t serve it up with genuine respect and the belief that this person in front of me has a future worth the effort it will take to make it happen.
Homelessness is about people not having a safe place to sleep. This Thanksgiving, I’m inspired by how government, service providers, businesses, faith communities, the military and the general public are creatively coming together to offer a wider spectrum of housing solutions for Hawaii’s people.
In our coming community dialogues about housing, my hope is that we will all open ourselves to a wider view of sustainable solutions, remembering those who struggle to establish or maintain a home in our community. Our founding fathers were essentially homeless when they first arrived in America. But mutual support, befriending strangers, working hard and sacrifice paved the way for thanksgiving.
Surely we can choose to learn from homeless people, can’t we?
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Connie Mitchell is executive director for The Institute for Human Services, Inc., a nonprofit organization focused on solutions for homeless people and those at risk for homelessness.
