Last year was tough for "Kim," one of four people helped by a Midland-based homeless and housing advocacy organization, a blog posted by the organization said.
"You think you had a tough year?," the Dec. 30 blog post on on The Field's Edge website asks. "No, you didn’t. Or at least it wasn’t as tough as Kim’s year, I promise. Kim’s year started out great."
Kim had a job, a roommate, was living in one of The Field's Edge's RVs and, she said in the blog post, she was "like George Jefferson, movin' on up," a reference to "The Jeffersons" sitcom of the 1970s and 1980s.
"Around April, everything fell apart," the blog post recalls. "Kim fell off the wagon, burned bridges with all her friends, she lost her roommate and she lost her job. Then she lost another job. And then another."
That was the "roller coaster of a year" that Kim suffered, the blog post said.
"And the ride is not over," the blog post continues. "But it’s improving. Kim is working through an addiction program, she mended a few relationships and just started a new job. Hang in there, Kim! We love you."
The Field's Edge is a homeless and housing advocacy organization modeled on Community First! in Midland.
Kim's story was one of four shared in the blog post about people The Field's Edge is helping.
There others are "Connie," who joined The Field's Edge's Neighborhood Care program in 2019, following several years of living in her car, and who suffers from COPD. There's also "Ted" who once lived in an abandoned building on Big Spring Street before moving in an RV newly donated to The Fields Edge, getting his diabetes under control and now has a job as a cook. He started off this year living in an abandoned building on south Big Spring Street. He had no electricity, no job and only a bike for transportation. Perri got help from The Fields Edge to find meaningful work and applied to Midland College to earn a clerical certification.
"All of us at The Field’s Edge are so proud of our residents and everything they accomplished this year," the blog post concludes. "They looked 2020 in the face and said, 'I’ve got this.' I have no doubt that 2021 will be even better."