Good Shepherd Center holds workshop on how to help the working homeless

WILMINGTON, NC (WWAY) — For more than 2 years, Mary DeJesus was a homeless single mother, struggling to find a way to take care of her son.

She said that while many people didn’t know what she was going through, it wasn’t because of any mistake she made.

“I worked every single day because I had to, but that doesn’t mean that I looked homeless,” DeJesus said. “I work at a doctors office. Everyone came across me, I don’t wear my issues on my forehead. It’s very imperative that people know that people struggle and it’s not because of any irresponsible decision I made. It’s just because those were the cards that was dealt to me.”

DeJesus was part of a workshop panel organized by the Good Shepherd Center, being held at public radio station WHQR, where the topic of working homeless was discussed.

While Mary did not spend time at Good Shepherd, the center works with its homeless guests to identify and overcome obstacles to securing and retaining housing.

Katrina Knight is the center’s executive director.

She said the idea that people experiencing homelessness ‘don’t want to work’ is a misconception.

“You know, it’s not unusual for folks to visit Good Shepherd during the day and say ‘well, where is everybody?’ And they’re surprised when we say they’re, they’re off at work right now,” Knight said. “We won’t see them until 5 pm, 6pm, sometimes late in the evening. It is very possible, and unfortunately, it is prevalent to be in housing crisis and yet also be a working person, a working parent.”

Tyrone Garrett, the CEO of the Wilmington Housing Authority, was also a part of the panel.

He said groups coming together to talk about difficult subjects like this is the first step to finding a solution.

“It’s going to take a lot of collaboration between a lot of organizations, not just the public and private sector together but other organizations who may be out there who can service the residents that we are all trying to support,” Garrett said.

For DeJesus, she has found a place she can call home, after signing a lease for an apartment back in September, a moment that overwhelmed her.

“I sat there and stood in complete silence for 30, 40 minutes and just cried, cried. It wasn’t sad cry, it was ‘Oh My God, I did it’ cry.”

Knight said she hopes that the topic of affordable housing remains an important issue for local leaders to focus and work on in the coming years.