Davika Johnston has come a long way from her children begging for a place of their own.
The 34-year-old single mother of three was evicted from an apartment three years ago and found herself homeless. She spent time in shelters while saving up for the quaint three-bedroom, two-bath, shotgun-style rent house that her family now calls home. They celebrated their first year in that house this month.
"They were kinda depressed," Johnston said of her children while they lived in shelters. "They would tell me, 'Mama, we need our own place.' I could see that they were unhappy, but at the same time, I made the sacrifice and saved up money and was able to get this house." Her children have room to play, grow and study there. It's a necessity that the Johnstons don't take for granted. The financial strain of raising three children and holding a job that paid less than $20,000 in good years was too much for Johnston in 2007. "I didn't have so much help from the dads, and it kind of put a whole strain of having three kids by yourself," Johnston said. "You have to pay bills and make sure you have enough money to buy things they need — clothes and stuff like that." Johnston's story is not uncommon. Her children were three of more than 1,000 that the Lafayette Parish School System's Homeless Education Program caters to on a daily basis. The vast majority, perhaps 95 percent, of the homeless children who go through the program are in single-mother households, program coordinator Mary Speyrer said. Shelters
There are several homeless shelters that cater to homeless women and families in Lafayette. They include Faith House, Acadiana Outreach Center's Lighthouse, Bishop O'Donnell transitional housing and SMILE emergency and transitional housing, Speyrer said. The Johnstons first went to Lighthouse Shelter for Women and Children, a seven-room, dormitory-style shelter that serves as emergency housing. The family only stayed for a month. "It's small rooms. It's a bunch of women. A whole bunch of women with kids," Johnston said, "and the only thing I didn't like about it is when I would go to work, they would go in your room and take stuff, dig in your stuff."
While the Johnstons lived at Lighthouse, case workers from the Homeless Education Program made their rounds and recommended the family to Lafayette Catholic Service Center's Bishop O'Donnell Transitional Housing Program. The program offers apartment-style transitional housing to single women with children who need time to gather resources before finding permanent housing, director Cynthia Herring said. The entrance hallway of the Bishop O'Donnell apartments was recently covered in flyers with tips on budgeting, nutrition and family management. Paper autumn leaves and colorful decorations sprinkled the walls. "I try to make them feel at home and, not make them forget, but not constantly reminded of their situation, because I realize it's not a comfortable situation," Herring said. Up the stairs of Bishop O'Donnell were eight furnished units, where families can stay for up to two years. "I didn't have to deal with anybody just going into my apartment, my room, and just taking anything," Johnston said. Residents are also given rules, like weekly chores, no men in the building, no drugs, no pets, visitors cannot stay the night and residents must disclose their whereabouts if they're gone for more than a day. "When they do that, we give them a warning. They have three," Herring said. "On the third one, they're terminated from the program." Those who are not interested in bettering themselves usually weed their way out by not following the rules.
Opportunities
Johnston took the time at Bishop O'Donnell to save up and learn budgeting skills through the shelter's weekly meetings. "Our job here is to help them with resources that can help them move forward," Herring said. Residents hand over 20 percent of their paychecks to the shelters. If they're out of work, they pay nothing. That's the case for a current resident, Jonnetta Jones. The 25-year-old mother of three is waiting to hear if her youngest daughter will be accepted into a child care program.
"They help us budget our money, take classes and show us how to manage our money with savings, with coupons, with stuff like that that you didn't know before you really got here," she said.
Mothers as young as 19 have been accepted into the program, and are usually recommended by case workers who work with the Homeless Education Program. The kids in the program can go to summer day camps, use tutoring services, and get uniforms and other essentials. "They helped out when school started," Johnston said. "They got underwear, coasts, shoes, and during the summer, they took them to camp every year. They loved camp." The majority of the homeless students live doubled up with other families. Some live in cars, hotels or move from couch to couch in friends and family's homes. All lack one thing — a permanent address. That can put a lot of stress on a child. "It's the instability, the insecurity and the uncertainness," Speyrer said. The program ties to keep kids in the same school even when they move, but that's not always possible. "They had to keep switching schools," Johnston said. They had already gone to J.W. Faulk, and they started going to Myrtle Place and we love Myrtle Place. Being that we moved on this end again, we had to switch back to J.W. Faulk." These days are still rough for Johnston. She stands to only make about $8,000 this year because she has taken extended sick leave for lupus. But the skills she learned during the last three years has kept her on her feet. Now, she has new dreams. "I've thought about going back to school," the 1994 Northside High graduate said. "I would like to do something to better myself."
