Seven people describe homelessness, abuse, and violence. A military veteran lost his car and job and lived on the street until The Relatives helped with rent and childcare. A young mother's son was nearly kidnapped by a knife-wielding group. The organization provides shelter, food, and a path back to stability.
I was homeless. I was living with an abusive ex-wife.
I didn't talk to my parents.
My story's horrible. I had a bad story. I was 16. I was like 17. I don't even know how old I was. I got thrown out my ex-wife's house naked, and the police came and got me. They took me here. They brought me to the relatives.
I was adopted when I was 7, and my real sister found me on Facebook in 2011. So I moved here to Charlotte with her. And then after that, I became homeless and just Living in the shelter, outside, anywhere I can. I was at Walmart sleeping in my car and I just hear boom boom and this woke me up and I just see the gun pointed at me and they was like, get out the car. And as I was getting out, he shot me. I got shot right here. And I walked back to my car, I'm bleeding. A lady called 911 and everything.
I was in the military after high school. It was great. It was a great experience. When I came home, I was working 2 jobs. I was actually working at the outlets, and I did a security job also because that's kind of like what I did in the military. Everything was going good, then my car just broke down in the middle of the road. I was literally driving on the south side of Charlotte. And my car stopped in the middle of the road. And it was a car that I had got when I was in the military, so I was still making payments on it. So I was then out of a car, then getting out of a job because I didn't have reliable transportation. I then lost my apartment. That's when I became homeless, staying on the streets. When I did have my car, staying in my car. It's lifeless, honestly, because you just kind of wonder why you're here. And I just, I start losing hope.
The second time I came back, I had a son, I didn't have a job. I was having like family problems at my house.
I mentor a young girl by the name of Carolina. And she has a 2-year-old son named Armond. Carolina was being picked up by her caseworker, Jason, so that she could come here to do filming. And Carolina's ex-boyfriend, who's Armond's father, stopped by somehow with a group of people that Carolina does not know. He wanted to take Armond. Somebody in the car had a knife. Armond was grabbed and put into the car without a car seat and drove off.
It's just I don't have, I don't have a custody agreement. They gave me one when I got my restraining order the first time, but it was only for a year. So once that year ended, he could do what he want.
I see a young girl who is a A single mom who loves her little boy so much, but struggles with all these things I can't even imagine struggling with. A father who seeks her out to both physically and mentally abuse her and Armand. Her story is very similar to a lot of the kids that we see here every day that walk in and out of these doors.
I was losing weight because I didn't have food to eat. I was getting dehydrated, going to the hospital because I didn't have any fluids in my body. I was having suicidal thoughts. But thankfully, you know, I ran into the resources that I have with The Relatives. And I know my dreams and my goals that I have established for myself, I wouldn't be nowhere near close touching them if it wasn't for The Relatives.
When any client comes into the Relatives, you know, they're sort of greeted immediately with open arms. It's, you know, how can we help you? You know, how can we de-escalate the situation you're in if it's a crisis situation?
Relatives is like, like a second home. You're not supposed to go to the on-ramp and go to sleep, but sometimes You tell them your situation, they'll let you rest and everything. And I think that's good because, you know, a lot of people when they sleep outside, you know, people come bother them and anything can happen. They helped me get a job and they helped me with food and everything like that. And last year they helped me get my first apartment and that was a big step for me.
They pay Majority of a portion of my rent. They also helped me with childcare, and now I'm getting to the point where I know I can save. I can get a car that I know that I'm gonna be able to keep and maintenance and put gas in without having any issues. I know I have that, and that's honestly all thanks to the relatives.
There's a lot of people that just need a second chance. Because you would approach it completely different knowing what you know after the first time. My story is nowhere near the same as most of the people and the relatives, but for me, you know, I started racing for a company called Joe Gibbs Racing. And I was 18 years old, and I got in there, and I didn't know what I was doing. I thought I knew everything, but I didn't know anything. And I'm trying to learn everything as fast as I can, and I got to the point that I lost my job. And I got a second chance working where I work now at Team Penske. And I walked into those doors with experience behind me. You know, when I hear about what the relatives does, and when I went there to visit and to Kind of get the tour and understand every little piece that they do. It kind of fit into exactly what I was thinking. I was like, this is exactly what it's about. That's amazing that you turned your life around from something like that though.
It is. I know it always could have been worse.
You're a badass.
You might not know it, but you're a badass. It's pretty cool.
To me, I mean, for so many of them, if their relatives wasn't here Where would they be? I personally, from seeing what I've seen in the last 2 years, would worry that Carolina and Armand, especially Carolina, might not even be alive at this point. That's my true belief.
They're just good people, like family. I love them. I love all of them.
