Tonya
Tonya placing her key on the door on the day she left ACCESS.
While recovering from a serious medical emergency, Tonya found herself in an abusive relationship for the second time and knew she had to leave for good, even if it meant losing the place she called home. Courageously, she dialed 2-1-1, and was told about ACCESS.
“I knew I had to love me more. I’m a survivor,” stated Tonya.
On April 1, 2021 Tonya arrived exhausted, fearful and in complete disbelief, Tonya struggled to grasp her new reality.
“I had a thousand things going on in my head. My life just changed, this just happened and I didn’t know why,” said Tonya. I came in here and I couldn’t even tell you truthfully how I got from one room to the other. It was just the stress of my life. It was just a dark place. That hallway seemed like one dark, long walk and I lived on the first floor. It was just a long walk and every day I just cried. I couldn’t sleep.”
With the help of her case managers, programming and other residents, Tonya began to see herself in a new light.
“It basically just took me every day trying to build myself up and love myself and it was a lot. It’s just a lot to go through and you have to learn to trust and believe and stay focused. Start working on your own self-esteem and self-being, and I changed from day one.” said Tonya.
With the hard work she was putting in, it didn’t take long for Tonya to begin seeing positive changes in her life. She spent her days attending programming, counseling, applying for housing, addressing legal matters and doing whatever it took to make the move to permanent housing. Tonya became a cheerleader for other residents entering and exiting the shelter as she held out hope that she would be next.
“The person you see today is not the person that walked in here. I’ve been here over four and a half months and I came in thinking, ‘oh I’m coming in here and I’m going to be out of here in two weeks and I ain’t staying here, I'm going to find me a place,’ but it doesn’t work like that. You have to put in the work. You have to put in the work,” emphasized Tonya.
Now, as she hangs her key on the wall of the shelter signifying her exit, she can’t help but gleam with excitement that it’s finally her turn, offering one last piece of advice.
“Believe...I have to believe in life that things happen, and things change, but you can make it through. Nothing is too hard for God, you can make it through anything,” vowed Tonya.