I was born in 1947, in the Bronx. I had a great family. My mother did most of the rearing for myself and my 2 brothers. One was 2 years older and the other 2 years younger than me. My father had problems after World War II. He became shell shocked. I don’t have details; it’s something that my mother didn’t talk about. He was in a state psychiatric hospital for most of my life, in upstate New York. We used to visit him until I was sixteen. He asked my mother not to come anymore. My mother did a good job raising us. Because of the veterans checks she had a good income. Yeah, we lived pretty good.

I graduated from high school in 1965. Right after that I gave birth to my first daughter. I completed my last year of high school in Los Angeles. I came back to New York when I was nineteen; got a job in midtown Manhattan. So I basically raised the baby myself. My second daughter came in 1971. I had a lot of help then to raise my children, including my first husband and another man. I was doing good. I had my family, good jobs; I worked for airlines most of my life, for TWA and Air Canada.

I moved to Florida in 1991 with my second husband. That is when things got a little hairy. I didn’t want to leave New York but the cost of living was high. My job, with Air Canada, relocated to Florida. It was a big shock, with the heat and different way of life, a lot to adjust to.

I had a female surgery in 2001. The next year I got breast cancer. It was a bad surgery. I was working for homeland security, for the federal government, as a screener. I went back to work for a year to get my chemo and radiation. I had to give up the job because I couldn’t lift any more. My life totally changed. From 2003 up until 2007 I could not get a job that paid health insurance. I still had all these medical issues. I couldn’t pay my bills or keep up my apartment.

This made me come back home, on my own, to New York, in June 2008. I came to Oliveiri drop- in-center in Manhattan. From there I went to Franklin shelter and was sent to this shelter, 8 months ago. I was given disability so I have an income. I just received a voucher (Section 8) that will allow me to get housing, I went and looked at a place last week. I’m quite satisfied with it so I’m moving out of the shelter system in another week.

I’m going through radiation treatment because there was another medical issue. Thank God that I’m here. I was able to get good medical care. I plan to help other people that are in this situation. There’s vacant buildings everywhere. I don’t see why people have to go through so much.