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The Secondary "Why"

The tug at the heart strings


On July 18, 2023, right as I prepared to close my laptop for a few days of melting in the FL heat with family, some in which I hadn't seen in 20+ years, I received a call. Caller ID identified the person as a local, they were calling from Worcester, but I didn't recognize the number. When everyone isn't home, it doesn't matter who's calling, I answer. This time was no different. I answered.


The caller is a woman. She asks if she's speaking to Tasia, I say "yes". She introduces herself and quickly tells her story. The quickness of her speech makes me believe she has told her story multiple times and/or is afraid I will hang-up. Because of the phone number she called (not the one listed on the website), I'm a little stunned and confused. Is this a call from the folks in City Hall who I've been attempting to connect with? I feel like I missed something! I seek clarification. In a shortened version, she tells me her story, again... she's homeless and have exhausted all options. I explain to her we are still waiting to finalize some items before we can place families. We talk a little more and as we're preparing to hang up, she says...






"You were my last hope."



As the co-founder of Meryl's Safe Haven, I've always known our "why", it lives within our "Who We Are" but I had forgotten about our "secondary why" that lives within our mission until this call. There are families who just do not make it on the radars and/or don't qualify to receive housing from the state but just need a chance to get back on their feet. In addition to that, the unfortunate reality of the pandemic has drastically exacerbated the gap in affordable housing and the average cost of (even) a one-bedroom apartment. After I got off the phone with her, unbeknownst to her, I called around to shelters in the city I'm aware of to see if they had any available space and how someone might go about receiving support. Of the three organizations I contacted, none of them had availability. I spoke with Marisol and had one more idea: "211". I called the woman back and asked if she had tried that resource, she said she had, and I wanted nothing more than to find a way to help her and her child, which, as a parent, made it harder to settle into the fact that we couldn't immediately help her.


Meryl's Safe Haven was absolutely created to fill a need in the community, but what is more important than 'just' filling that need is not forgetting that the community in which we seek to help are people with stories and experiences that should be heard and valued while providing holistic support.


The urgency became real on 7/18/2023.





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