Wallace State welcomes speakers from the National Coalition for the Homeless
HANCEVILLE, ALA. – Wallace State recently welcomed Steve Thomas and T. Sanders from the National Coalition for the Homeless.
Thomas and Sanders, who both traveled from Washington D.C., each shared their personal testimonies to Wallace State students, faculty and staff, describing the circumstances that led to their respective stints with homelessness. Their visit was sponsored by the Wallace State Common Read committee and presented in conjunction with the Common Read selection this academic year, “Breaking Night: A Memoir of Forgiveness, Survival, and My Journey from Homeless to Harvard,” by Liz Murray.
“There are many people one or two paychecks away from being homeless. Homelessness can be just one bad decision away. There is only one type of person who is immune from being homeless, and that is the perfect person. Homelessness can happen to anyone,” said Thomas, a Washington D.C. native.
Thomas became homeless as a 51 year old after battling drugs and alcohol for the majority of his adult life. Thomas said he resorted to drugs and alcohol because it was an easy way to fit in with friends and a temporary escape from being domestically abused by his mother.
As the years progressed, Thomas said he made a mistake one night at a party by experimenting with cocaine.
“It took me 30 seconds to try cocaine. It took me 30 years to get off of it. I didn’t have a clue as to the addictive nature of crack cocaine. It didn’t help that I had the disease of thinking I knew everything. You couldn’t tell me anything,” Thomas said.
Thomas added he was fortunate enough to earn lucrative jobs at a variety of professions, but never sustained any for an extensive amount of time because he failed urine analysis tests.
“If you choose to involve drugs or excessive use of alcohol in your life, I can almost guarantee that somewhere in your story there is going to be a bout of homelessness,” Thomas said.
Thomas became homeless at 51 with two plastic bags to his name. He said he spent 18 months camped out on the same park bench, located two blocks from the White House and three blocks from United States Capitol. One night a volunteer doctor approached Thomas and asked if he needed some help.
“That 5-foot-1 white man was an angel. He asked me something no one else had ever said: ‘Would you allow me to help you?’” Thomas said. “I learned that night that within each of us is the ability to affect change in the lives of those less fortunate than ourselves. Sometimes it’s just as simple as saying ‘good morning’ or asking if you can help them. It’s not hard. It’s not hard at all. Make yourselves available.”
Thomas went to rehab for a month and has been worked for the National Coalition for the Homeless since 2007. He said last Nov. 9 marked his 10-year anniversary of being sober.
Thomas said the top reasons individuals become homeless include: lack of affordable housing, poor paying jobs, lack of proper healthcare, domestic violence and mental health issues.
Sanders experienced two stretches of homelessness, first as a child when it was a common occurrence for her family to spend the night in their car. Sanders said school was the one stable aspect of her life.
“It was school and reading. School and reading saved my life. I love, love, love to read. I’m a bookworm, and reading saved my life because it allowed me to live. We were in and out of homelessness, but reading allowed me to believe I could do anything,” Sanders said. “Reading allowed me to believe I was a middle-class kid and clearly I wasn’t. I didn’t have anything positive in my life going on to make me believe a solid life was possible. Reading allowed me to dream.”
Sanders, 43, said another obstacle during her teenage years was her mother’s addiction to drugs.
“We want to think we are invincible, but drugs change the game,” Sanders said. “I had to adjust to a lot of different schools and places. I’ve spent a lifetime expecting to adjust.”
Sanders cashed in on her love of education and earned a bachelor’s degree in communications from Rowan University in New Jersey and master’s degree in criminal justice from the University of Baltimore.
As an adult, Sanders established a non-profit business that worked with at-risk families in Maryland, but the impacts of the 2009 recession ultimately affected the well-being of her company and it bottomed out, sending Sanders to a second bout of homelessness.
“There are four million people who are homeless in America and probably four million different stories. It was devastating at the time for me. I lost everything. I was prepared to fight though,” Sanders said.
Sanders bounced back quickly and now runs a group home and works for the National Coalition for the Homeless.
Sanders encouraged the Wallace State contingency to pursue their respective dreams.
“Find your passion in life and go after it. You can go wherever you want to go in life. Just because you become an adult doesn’t mean you should stop living,” Sanders said.
Wallace State’s Sally Warren, an English instructor and Common Read committee member, said the college was honored to have Thomas and Sanders share their stories.
“I don’t think I’m alone in my admiration for the courage both showed in sharing their deeply personal, moving stories with us. Their vulnerability and honesty helped bring two real faces to the issue of homelessness,” Warren said. “The students I’ve spoken to who attended the event expressed a newfound interest for reaching out to the homeless community. I’m happy WSCC faculty, students, and staff had the opportunity to hear T. and Steve’s personal accounts of homelessness as we continue to discuss the Common Read, ‘Breaking Night.’”
For more information about the National Coalition for the Homeless, visit www.nationalhomeless.org
For more information about Wallace State, visit wallacestate.edu.
Pictures:
- Sanders and Steve Thomas traveled from the National Coalition for the Homeless to Wallace State recently, sharing their personal stories about homelessness.
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Russell Moore
Staff Writer
Wallace State Community College
P.O. Box 2000, Hanceville, AL 35077
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Visit us online at www.wallacestate.edu
Kristen Holmes
Communications & Marketing Director, and
Administrator, The Evelyn Burrow Museum
Wallace State Community College
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