Edda's Story
Edda first became homeless at 17, when she ran away from danger in her home. This led to her being arrested on nonviolent offenses, experiencing solitary confinement, having guns pointed at her seven times and even being shot at twice, being trafficked and struggling with suicide attempts, and feeling worthless and purposeless. She was lonely and kept being let down by systems that “worked.” She would go on to struggle with housing stability and difficulties holding down a job for the next several years.
“I was in and out of everywhere, scared, lost, confused, hungry, alone, traumatized, suicidal, and never had time to plant my feet anywhere”.
Edda entered our program this past spring. She shares that one of her biggest challenges was realizing how her mental health relates to interpersonal relationships, a common struggle for many youth experiencing homelessness. She sometimes finds it hard not to bring work moods home with her. She learned that there will always be people who are challenging to communicate with, and you can only control how you take it and move forward.
“I honestly didn’t think I was worth much of anything before Wildflyer. But seeing what I’ve done through the short program and what it has helped me with has shown me I’m always capable of more than I think as long as I keep going. I can do more than I can imagine”.
Now, Edda feels she has built an extensive support system to help her with things and keep her accountable and moving forward. She reported having “hope for the first time since before [she] had to grow up.” Now, she wants to go to school for macro-social work, emphasizing case management, outreach, case studies, legislation, community engagement, and event planning. She wants to “make the world a better place and an easier place. …help people survive and thrive…make a difference”. During her time in the Wildflyer program, she also got into RS EDEN’s housing program, so for the first time in a long time, she has a place to plant her feet.
Edda just graduated from our training program and continues to work with her employment counselor on her post-program employment plan. Since she lives in the St. Paul area, we know we’ll see her around frequently. For now, Edda enjoys having a place to come home to, work on her art, continue to find herself, and dream about the future. Wherever she goes, we know she’ll soar.
“I am no longer my past but I am me and me is free indeed”