Regain hope after homelessness
Angela and William tell their story
to Congressman Pascrell’s aide
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More than three hundred and fifty (350) formerly homeless people, passionate advocates and housing providers from across the state attended the July 28, 2009 Congressional Reception. As we stated on Monday, one of the most impressive parts of the event were the speeches by the formerly homeless that preceded the speeches by the members of Congress. This is the sixth in our series of publishing links to the video and a summary of the speeches.
Angela Terry and William Nazario prepare to present the plaque to Mr. Mandel
Angela Terry spoke about how she became homeless five years ago. “Broken spiritually, mentally, physically, and emotionally, I checked into the Eva’s Village Residential Program in Paterson, New Jersey for substance abuse treatment.” She now has her own place and been reunited with her daughter who will attend college in the fall. Ms. Terry stated “I only ask for everyone to acknowledge this need for housing and not to judge others by stigmatizing us with “those kind of people” because the truth is people are people. We are all good; we just have made bad choices.There are a lot of me’s out there in the world and if you look hard enough, you can find that I am your sister, brother, cousin, wife, husband, daughter, or son that is tucked away and kept as a dirty little secret out of fear of embarrassment for the rest of the family.”
William Nazario, a Vietnam Veteran, spoke about his homelessness. Since returning from Vietnam he has been fighting addiction and homelessness. He went to Eva’s Village for assistance. One day he was offered an opportunity to complete an application to move into permanent, affordable and supportive housing by the New Jersey Community Development Corporation (NJCDC). Within two weeks he had an apartment as well as hope. He spoke that his cause was to work to end homelessness.
Congressman Pascrell's constituents at the 3rd Annual Congressional Reception
Arthur Mandel spoke for Congressman William Pascrell (D-8) expressed the Congressman’s regret at his not being unable to attend. He thanked everyone who attended because the advocacy for ending homelessness is so crucial. He said that Congressman Pascrell would continue to work to end homelessness.
If you would like to use a copy of the video click here [Email address: photos #AT# njaneh.org - replace #AT# with @ ].
The videos are courtesy of Asish Patel [Email address: apatel #AT# monarchhousing.org - replace #AT# with @ ] and Taiisa Telesford [Email address: ttelesford #AT# monarchhousing.org - replace #AT# with @ ].
