It started in Portland, Oregon. My pregnant mom, my father and myself were living in an apartment in North Portland. Two weeks after my brother was born my grandmother passed away. My grandmother’s death affected my family greatly because we didn’t have a place to live and she helped keep our family together. After that my family became homeless and my mom and dad separated. We then moved into a shelter in Gresham, Oregon where we stayed briefly. Then we got into a different shelter called the YMCA in downtown Portland. Living in the YMCA was fun because we were able to use the pool and basketball gym. At one point, my mom and uncle got into an altercation and we got kicked out because they have a zero-tolerance policy for violence. To top it off, my parents separated, making my mother a single parent and it was a struggle for us.

We didn’t have a place to stay so we moved in with my Aunt Barb. This was during the recession so my aunt lost her house and again we had no place to live. My mom was able to get us into another shelter. This shelter was an actual house with 5 bedrooms, 5 bathrooms and a big kitchen that we shared with the other two women living there. This shelter was the best because my mother, brother, and I made so many friends. There were lots of kids and toys for us to play with, too. At the time my mother didn’t have a car so she would walk everywhere. My father wasn’t around much to help.

My mother was accepted into a transitional housing program that helped people living in the shelter. It was a new experience moving into a townhouse in Woodland, Washington. We lived there for four years. During this time, my mom paid for my brother and I to play Pop Warner Football. We were able to go to the playoffs and championship games and won three times. My mom also got us into playing basketball in a free league and I know she was happy to see us having fun and building our skills. We then moved to Vancouver, Washington.

During that time, we got a dog named Bandit and had him for five years. He was a part of our family but we were forced to get rid of him. Later that same year, we moved to Phoenix, Arizona. We moved here because most of our family lived here. At first, we were struggling to find an affordable living situation and that's when my Auntie Barb took us in with love.

Life in Phoenix has been good because we have had way more opportunities. My aunties are much more successful, my mom is happier and we have made friends that have really helped us out. When I came here, I started playing basketball and was inspired by my coach to continue playing at a high level. What started off as a hobby, has now become a big part of my life. We came from a place where we weren’t happy with our living situation but we were always happy to be together. Now, my life is filled with helpful family and friends. We have people looking out for us who want the best for us. 

Our lives have changed so much. I think I’m going to be able to find where I want to go in life because of where we’ve been. The strength of my mom and how she has always figured out how to take care of us has been a blessing and a lesson to me.

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