by Heather Ann White
She went from being an accountant to a panhandler.
Mary Jane lost her home, her job and her family to crystal methamphetamine. Survival came down to holding a cardboard sign and begging for help at busy intersections. On a good day, Mary Jane would make enough for her family of six to sleep safely at a motel instead of in the family’s sedan on a deserted street.
Unfortunately, there were more bad days than good and her situation worsened. It wasn’t until Mary Jane arrived at the Presbyterian Night Shelter that things started to look up.
“My husband went to jail, my oldest son went to live with his dad, and I had to give my two youngest children to my cousin, who could take better care of them – it was the hardest thing I’ve ever done in my life,” she said. “But giving them up, coming to PNS – getting my life back in order – was the right thing to do.”
Mary Jane and her oldest daughter, Tamera, 27, came to the Shelter in 2007. The two were able to work at the Shelter as back desk attendants and helped with intake during the evenings. In 2008, Mary Jane’s husband, Greg, joined them at the Shelter.
It was at PNS where she decided to change her life for the better. Mary Jane kicked her drug habit and swore never to panhandle again.
“Panhandling was just a band-aid,” she said. “It was just a quick fix to our situation but never a permanent fix. We were still homeless.”
In August 2007, after just seven months at the Shelter, Tamera, 27, was able to move out with the help of PNS case workers and Section-8 Housing, a federal housing program that provides assistance to low-income renters.
Mary Jane and Greg followed suit in March 2008, moving into an apartment through the Shelter’s Housing Solutions program, which offers assistance to clients who qualify for supportive housing.
“Moving into our own apartment was wonderful,” she said. “On the streets, I thought I’d never get back on my feet, but now I know I’ll make it.”
The family also received help from PNS’ “Adopt-a-Client” program, which connects volunteers to clients in housing. The volunteers help furnish the apartments and provide groceries and toiletries.
“It was really such a blessing getting that furniture,” Mary Jane said. “Yes, it’s a great thing to get your own apartment, but then you’re looking at four blank walls and thinking, ‘How am I going to do this?’ The “Adopt-a-Client” program definitely helps people be more successful.”
Even though Mary Jane is now stable, her family remains divided. Her two youngest children, Calli, 9, and Dylan, 7, continue to live with Mary Jane’s cousin in Kaufman, Texas, and have been formally adopted. Her oldest son, Jeremy, 23, still lives with his father, she said.
“It makes me sound like I wasn’t a very good mother,” she said. “Giving them up seemed like the right thing to do at the time. They don’t really know me – and they’re better off with my cousin.” Mary Jane said that she will re-enter the children’s lives at an appropriate time and help them understand who she is.
Now that she has turned her life around, Mary Jane has set other goals for herself including going back to school to be a Certified Public Accountant or a paralegal. She and her husband also want to be able to afford an apartment or home on their own.
Her road to success wouldn’t be possible without PNS staff and services, she said.
“There is no reason not to prosper here,” she said. “If you don’t get help through these programs, it’s not because you’re not offered help. It’s because you don’t want it. I am grateful for everything PNS has done.”
