By Celia Martinez
In a small, crowded low-lit room sat 12-year-old Azalea Scales. She was surrounded by several children and five adults who hovered around a long wooden table attentively watching as a tall woman with short hair told a story about a small cat living among big animals on a farm.
The storyteller, who stood across the table from where Azalea sat, did not have a book but instead acted out the story with help from a little girl wearing a bright orange top and pigtails. Together they spoke:
“I want to be big, I want to be tall. I don’t like being so very, very small.”
But even with live-action storytelling, it was evident that Scales was bored. As the rest of the children repeated the lines, Scales fidgeted in her seat and repeatedly turned her head, attempting to peak out the door behind her. A few moments later, she stood up, walked out the door and greeted her mother in the hallway of this their home.
It is not the typical home,not an apartment or a single family house, the kind that Azalea and her three siblings and their mother Raven Sanders might like to live in. But it is a home no less here at Thelma’s Place, 8040 S. Western Ave., which has become a home for homeless families.
Thelma’s Place is one of nine interim housing programs operated by the Chicago-based not-for-profit organization Inner Voice. Founded over 20 years ago by Reverend Robert Johnson, Inner Voice is now the largest provider of homeless services in Chicago.
According to the organization, it assists approximately 13,000 people every year by providing shelter and offering resources such as job training and job placement and also helping the homeless find affordable housing.
“I assist the clients in housing, life skills, and help budget their money,” said Karin Moret, who has been working for Thelma’s Place for three years.
Moret said clients are given four months to stay at Thelma’s Place and that within that time, the shelter provides them with many resources to become fully independent again.
The shelter also holds job fairs on occasion. In March, the company Avon and a company for nursing homes visited Thelma’s place in hopes of recruiting a few new employee, Moret said.
But bringing in the employers doesn’t necessarily mean that a client will get a job. And if clients still don’t have any luck finding a job after their four months are up at the shelter, they are given an extension.
“People don’t have to leave,” added Moret.
At last month’s job fair, Scales’ mother didn’t have any luck. Still, Sanders, 28, said the shelter has been providing her with good resources, but she just can’t seem to find a job, so far.
Sanders said she first came to Thelma’s Place just over a month ago from the Salvation Army in Kankakee, Ill. Originally from Chicago, Sanders said she left for Kankakee with her four children, hoping to improve their lives. Although she didn’t have family there, she had a job and she thought she was secure.
“When I left [the economy] it wasn’t too bad,” said Sanders, “I just wanted to get away.”
Sanders said she was living in a good neighborhood and her children were attending good schools in Kankakee. But she said she hit a streak of bad luck when she lost her job and her rent increased, she explained. She soon found herself and her children in the Salvation Army, which she described as a bad experience because she was certain her roommates were stealing from her.
Although unhappy with her living situation, she says she remained at the Salvation Army for three months before deciding to come back to Chicago.
She first arrived at the Holy Cross Hospital and the hospital staff called the Department of Human Services, or DHS, who directed her and her family to Thelma’s Place-all within a matter of days.
“It’s just hard,” said Sanders of the instability she says her children have been put through in such a short period of time. “They’re not used to this type of stuff.”
Sanders said that although the fluctuating economy was in part to blame for her misfortune, she mostly blames herself.
“I probably should’ve tried harder,” Sanders said. “I don’t think I tried as hard as I could.”
Sanders said that right now, all she could do is keep looking for work but wants to remain optimistic because she is currently in the process of getting her own apartment, thanks to the Housing and Rental Assistance Program provided by Inner Voice. Although Sanders is currently unemployed, Moret says the Thelma’s Place and Inner Voice will still help provide housing.
“We find a place in the suburbs and take them there,” Moret said. “We even help pay rent for one month.”
Sanders said that overall, her stay at Thelma’s Place has been pleasant. She said the facility is cleaner than the previous shelter and the staff is friendlier. But mostly, she is content to have her own room that she shares with her four children—and no roommates.
Sanders said she is also grateful that her children’s education hasn’t been affected with the moves.
“They’re still doing good in school,” she said.
Sanders said Thelma’s Place, which offers tutoring for the children twice a week, is the reason for their success in school. Azalea has been receiving tutoring and, in fact, says that it’s her favorite thing about staying at Thelma’s Place.
“They’re nice,” she said of her tutors. “They teach different things…they teach me slow so I could understand.”
Azalea says she didn’t have a problem readjusting to life in the new shelter and at a new school and has even made a few friends. But she admits that she is tired of it and craves normalcy. She says that occasionally she’ll bother her mother for a cell phone or new shoes, even though she knows they can’t afford it.
She says she doesn’t blame her mother for their current situation and that her mother has tried her best, but just can’t seem to find a good job. And although she hopes someday to become a lawyer, Azalea said that what she really wants is for her family is to have their own place to call home.
“I want Mama to have a good life and a nice home,” Azalea said.
In a small, crowded low-lit room sat 12-year-old Azalea Scales. She was surrounded by several children and five adults who hovered around a long wooden table attentively watching as a tall woman with short hair told a story about a small cat living among big animals on a farm.
The storyteller, who stood across the table from where Azalea sat, did not have a book but instead acted out the story with help from a little girl wearing a bright orange top and pigtails. Together they spoke:
“I want to be big, I want to be tall. I don’t like being so very, very small.”
But even with live-action storytelling, it was evident that Scales was bored. As the rest of the children repeated the lines, Scales fidgeted in her seat and repeatedly turned her head, attempting to peak out the door behind her. A few moments later, she stood up, walked out the door and greeted her mother in the hallway of this their home.
It is not the typical home,not an apartment or a single family house, the kind that Azalea and her three siblings and their mother Raven Sanders might like to live in. But it is a home no less here at Thelma’s Place, 8040 S. Western Ave., which has become a home for homeless families.
Thelma’s Place is one of nine interim housing programs operated by the Chicago-based not-for-profit organization Inner Voice. Founded over 20 years ago by Reverend Robert Johnson, Inner Voice is now the largest provider of homeless services in Chicago.
According to the organization, it assists approximately 13,000 people every year by providing shelter and offering resources such as job training and job placement and also helping the homeless find affordable housing.
“I assist the clients in housing, life skills, and help budget their money,” said Karin Moret, who has been working for Thelma’s Place for three years.
Moret said clients are given four months to stay at Thelma’s Place and that within that time, the shelter provides them with many resources to become fully independent again.
The shelter also holds job fairs on occasion. In March, the company Avon and a company for nursing homes visited Thelma’s place in hopes of recruiting a few new employee, Moret said.
But bringing in the employers doesn’t necessarily mean that a client will get a job. And if clients still don’t have any luck finding a job after their four months are up at the shelter, they are given an extension.
“People don’t have to leave,” added Moret.
At last month’s job fair, Scales’ mother didn’t have any luck. Still, Sanders, 28, said the shelter has been providing her with good resources, but she just can’t seem to find a job, so far.
Sanders said she first came to Thelma’s Place just over a month ago from the Salvation Army in Kankakee, Ill. Originally from Chicago, Sanders said she left for Kankakee with her four children, hoping to improve their lives. Although she didn’t have family there, she had a job and she thought she was secure.
“When I left [the economy] it wasn’t too bad,” said Sanders, “I just wanted to get away.”
Sanders said she was living in a good neighborhood and her children were attending good schools in Kankakee. But she said she hit a streak of bad luck when she lost her job and her rent increased, she explained. She soon found herself and her children in the Salvation Army, which she described as a bad experience because she was certain her roommates were stealing from her.
Although unhappy with her living situation, she says she remained at the Salvation Army for three months before deciding to come back to Chicago.
She first arrived at the Holy Cross Hospital and the hospital staff called the Department of Human Services, or DHS, who directed her and her family to Thelma’s Place-all within a matter of days.
“It’s just hard,” said Sanders of the instability she says her children have been put through in such a short period of time. “They’re not used to this type of stuff.”
Sanders said that although the fluctuating economy was in part to blame for her misfortune, she mostly blames herself.
“I probably should’ve tried harder,” Sanders said. “I don’t think I tried as hard as I could.”
Sanders said that right now, all she could do is keep looking for work but wants to remain optimistic because she is currently in the process of getting her own apartment, thanks to the Housing and Rental Assistance Program provided by Inner Voice. Although Sanders is currently unemployed, Moret says the Thelma’s Place and Inner Voice will still help provide housing.
“We find a place in the suburbs and take them there,” Moret said. “We even help pay rent for one month.”
Sanders said that overall, her stay at Thelma’s Place has been pleasant. She said the facility is cleaner than the previous shelter and the staff is friendlier. But mostly, she is content to have her own room that she shares with her four children—and no roommates.
Sanders said she is also grateful that her children’s education hasn’t been affected with the moves.
“They’re still doing good in school,” she said.
Sanders said Thelma’s Place, which offers tutoring for the children twice a week, is the reason for their success in school. Azalea has been receiving tutoring and, in fact, says that it’s her favorite thing about staying at Thelma’s Place.
“They’re nice,” she said of her tutors. “They teach different things…they teach me slow so I could understand.”
Azalea says she didn’t have a problem readjusting to life in the new shelter and at a new school and has even made a few friends. But she admits that she is tired of it and craves normalcy. She says that occasionally she’ll bother her mother for a cell phone or new shoes, even though she knows they can’t afford it.
She says she doesn’t blame her mother for their current situation and that her mother has tried her best, but just can’t seem to find a good job. And although she hopes someday to become a lawyer, Azalea said that what she really wants is for her family is to have their own place to call home.
“I want Mama to have a good life and a nice home,” Azalea said.
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