Two weeks ago we went to the “executive sleep out” at Covenant House, where they like to say that the least interesting thing about their kids is the fact that they’re homeless.
This is Emma. She ran away from an abusive situation at home and ended up living in her car. That’s the dark place she mentions. She lived in her car for about two and a half months, then came to the shelter, where she’s been going to school and to her (two) jobs in Atlantic City.
“When we’re born we have a light in us, and it’s up to us to find whatever it is to make it brighter and to light up stronger,” she said. “But when I ended up being in my car, that’s when I just felt like I was in complete darkness. I felt as if the light…as if somebody just flicked it off, and it just was never going to come back on.”
She started getting her life in order in Atlantic City.
“I slowly found that the light in me–the darkness that I had–the light was slowly turning back on. The light was starting to ignite in me.”