Homelessness in the Heartland

They’re so full, some people are being turned away, including families with children.

Golden Drive Homeless Kids of Fargo helped connect us to the Brackins family.
 
KVRR’s Diane Thao spent months with them as they go from homeless in the heartland to hopeful.

We may not see homeless people out on the streets this time of the year but that doesn’t mean there aren’t people without homes, like the Brackins family.

I got to know them at the Churches United shelter in Moorhead. Their story may surprise you.

“The first and foremost thing that really came to my mind was ‘Oh my god, I’m going to lose my kids. I’m homeless.’ You know, that I had a really hard time with,” says Shelly Brackins of Moorhead.

Life hasn’t been easy for the Brackins for a while now.

They have been staying at Churches United for the past four months.

Shelly, a mother of two very young boys, is trying her best to keep strong for her family as she drops her sons at a daycare.

Shelly says, “I’m grateful that they’re not old enough to really fully understand it. My prayers are that once we make it through this, which I know we will, that they don’t remember that much.That would just tear my little boys up to not be able to be with their dad or their mom. My husband is my boys’ hero. That man lives for those kids.”

Shelly’s husband, Leroy does what he can to support his family.

“I don’t think people being homeless are drunks and scam artists. Basically you have some very very honest, hardworking people. They just seem to have different situations in they life that come up,” says Leroy.

Shelly says, “Does it bother me that I can’t work? Well of course it does. Absolutely because I feel that I need to be able to provide just as well as my husband does.”

Three months after her two year old, Elijah was born, Shelly had a stroke.

She lost feeling on the right side of her body.

“My husband had to then quit his job because there were concerns that if I was watching the children that with him being a baby, my arm would give out,” says Shelly.

Once Leroy stopped working, things slowly got stripped away.

The Brackins lost their home.

They turned to Churches United for help.

They were on a wait list for months before they were given a room.

“I walk into the streets wondering where I’m going to get 40–50 bucks to stay in a hotel or I got to hurry and get back to the shelter before ten o’clock or we’ll get put out. You know it’s kind of rough,” says Leroy.

Lisa Lipari of Churches United says, “When we have an opening, even availability in our overflow, a family goes through a normal intake process and then they basically stay with us until they find housing. Average stay for families is about three months.”

Churches United says every family at this shelter is required to meet with the family case manager.

The manager works with families on their goals such as housing and tackling other obstacles and challenges there are in terms of getting into the housing.

“Shelly and her family are exceptional in that they were strongly motivated and equipped to deal with the obstacles,” says Lipari.

Shelly has been rolling with the punches for some time now.

But since being homeless, she makes sure to pay it forward every Tuesday.

Tuesday, happens to be the day she and her family become homeless.

She finds a stranger to brighten up their day.  Today, it’s with coffee.

This day continues to be special day for Shelly.  After getting her documents sorted, the Brackins could very well be on their way to a new place they can call home.

“This was a blessing for me and my family because hopefully, in Jesus name, as long as everything continues to go well, we might be moving into a place to live, January first,” says Shelly, “I want my boys to have their own room. I want my husband to have our own room. I want to be able to just live.”

Things are beginning to turn around.

Shelly received great news.

The Brackins were approved for an apartment.

She and her family will have a place they can call their own.

That they can look forward to when we get a place to live is that they’ll be able to ride their bikes.

This is one less thing that Leroy has to worry about.

Now, he’s starting the New Year in a new home and with a new attitude.

“I appreciate everything I have. I appreciate waking up in the morning, being able to get my own coffee. Before I go to work, say bye to my wife and boys. Being able to go outside and start my car and let it warm up first before I go to work. You know just being able to brush my teeth in the morning before I go to work without someone being in the bathrooms. Things like that, you learn to appreciate what you have now,” says Leroy.

Through these past dark months, both Leroy and Shelly say the silver lining has been gratitude.

Now it’s been two months that the Brackins have a place they can call home.

Churches United is the only shelter in town that allows families to say together when they’re going through a tough time.