“There is a reason for it all.” – Hakeem

After his father’s abandonment, his mom couldn’t find herself, but rather filled the void with other relationships. Hakeem recalls “I didn’t establish a father figure with any of them.” Later, she got remarried and began to abuse alcohol. During this time, Hakeem was being bullied at school.

When his mom’s hours were cut at her job, she began cheating on her husband, and he filed for divorce. Hakeem remembers her never being home; therefore, they didn’t establish a mother-son bond. He says, “everything spiraled when we got evicted” and his family began moving all their belongings into a storage unit, then sleeping in their car. His mom called around and they landed at Mel Trotter Ministries. Hakeem, his brother, and his mom stayed at MTM for one night. While his mom was at work that day, Hakeem and his brother stayed in the car. Eventually management found out that they were sleeping in the storage unit, and they got kicked out.

After that, Hakeem and his family stayed at a Knights Inn and during that time, his stepdad came back into the picture. Hakeem, his mom, stepdad, sister (who was pregnant at the time), her boyfriend, and his brother all crammed into one hotel room. Hakeem recalls playing around at the hotel and getting kicked out. The hotel called the police, so his mom had to leave work early, which got her fired. “The situation took my childhood away,” Hakeem says while recalling this part of his journey.

He and his family found themselves at the doors of Mel Trotter Ministries after having no place else to turn. Through Mel Trotter Ministries, they were put in contact with Family Promise. As they started to be case managed by Family Promise, Hakeem and his family got plugged into a local church. Between their new church family and Family Promise, they were able to get to the depths of their situation and begin understanding the root cause(s) of their homelessness. They stayed at Family Promise for 5 months, and they helped his mom find a home.

Hakeem says “being homeless is more than not having a home. It is not having a meal; it is shopping at thrift stores… it is deeper than ‘we don’t have a home’.” He says, “I was trying to live two lives. I was trying to be me, but I knew I wasn’t going back to a home.”

Because his mom couldn’t afford to give him a bed, Hakeem slept on a futon. They didn’t have enough money to buy a school uniform, which got him expelled from school even though it wasn’t out of defiance. “Everything became too much to handle while experiencing homelessness,” says Hakeem.

His mom was making the kids pay half the rent, so she didn’t have to pay as much, and they got behind on house payments and were evicted. “I wasn’t ready to personally live on my own,” Hakeem lamented, but he moved out when he was 17 and lived with his sister and her baby at an apartment. They were first-time renters and didn’t realize they were in a short-term lease, and they couldn’t re-sign. They ended up staying with a friend in their basement.

While working at McDonald’s, Hakeem completed his GED online and walked with his graduating class. He was able to finish the program six months early.

Today he lives with his fiancé and his son, Messiah.

After being fired from multiple jobs due to various reasons – many of which stemmed from his childhood trauma and experiencing homelessness – Hakeem says he asked God, “Why am I going through this?” It was in that questioning moment that he decided to apply for a position at Mel Trotter Thrift. Ron, the supervisor at the MTM Thrift Distribution Center, called him for an interview and Hakeem sat down and shared his story. The rest, as they say, is history.

Hakeem has now been working for Mel Trotter Ministries since September. “From day one, he [Ron] has been there for me…he is more of a mentor than a boss. I was a broken person and I needed reprimands,” says Hakeem.

He and his mom don’t have the greatest relationship, but there is progress. Hakeem says, “I had to learn forgiveness…you have to forgive them as if you were in their shoes.”

Today, he credits Mel Trotter Ministries with helping turn his life around and get back on his feet. To give back and show his appreciation, he serves at Family Promise every Thursday by picking up the donated clothing they are not able to use and bringing it to the MTM thrift store.