Young love

A young couple, whom I am proud to call friends, and on whom I will bestow the pseudonyms, Greg and Diana, have served for me as an example of the incredible strength which is the human spirit. 

I have known them both for almost three years.  Greg is an energetic twenty-five year-old child of the wind.  He is stocky, full of humor and always quick to laugh.  Diana is a 5ft, early twenty something woman of the world.  They are happy in love and engaged to be married in the spring of 2014. 

When I first met Greg and Diana they were living homeless on the streets of Austin, Texas.  I don't know the entire scope of their personal histories, but I know that Diana grew up with her brother, Raul, in the foster system, moving around through several states.  Both Diana and Raul have lived on the streets extensively since they left the foster system.  Diana has a few serious health conditions, including having needed kidney dialysis regularly, and even being given a two month clock to live.  She beat their odds.  I do not yet know as much about Greg's past, but I know that it has not been easy. 

I remember talking with Diana (the sweetest person who ever lived) one day at the organization when she began talking about the previous night on spent on the street.  I believe this was last winter.  I remember experiencing a sick feeling pass through my body.  It turned out that these two young, bright and happy people had spent the past seven straight months holding each other each night for protection against the dangerous city street elements.  That conversation really opened my eyes.  They had both spent years going back and forth from living on the street. 

I met Diana and Greg at a social service group which does much to serve the homeless of Austin, and which recruits members of the homeless community to serve as leaders in the organization.  Diana and Greg both serve in some form of leadership at this organization.  I know that Greg has been volunteering at the organization for five years.  They take their responsibilities very seriously and are completely devoted to serving their fellow wo/man week after week. 

Today both Greg and Diana have attained jobs at a major fast food restaurant and have been living in their own apartment for a few months.  There is absolutely no doubt that the skills which learned in their leadership roles fostered them the opportunity to extend their success beyond the organization and out into the job market to find housing and an income (albeit, not a Living Wage).   I think this story is true for many people who've found strength in this organization, and for people who've found it in any of the other thousands of organizations which serve the underserved with not only life sustaining resources, but also, perhaps, some sense of control over their own destiny.