We bought our silly red noses and had fun donating to a very worthy cause: fighting childhood poverty here in The United States of America.
The support you give today will go to helping children in the United States in 3 major ways:
1. Keeping them safe
2. Educating Them
3. Making sure they are Healthy.
Find out more about what you can do to help: https://www.rednoseday.org/
And now...my story.
First, let me tell you that I am not writing this blog looking for a hand out, or to make anyone feel sorry for my family in our current situation.
I am writing this blog to either change the way you think about people living poverty, or to inspire those who share in my current situation to not give up. Everything will get better. You just can't give up.
This is what struggling through poverty feels like to me (as I imagine that most people living in poverty feel like):
But before I go any further, I want to say that I am very grateful that we have family that loves us and have helped us tremendously in our time of need. We currently have food to eat, a roof over our head, and clothes to wear. We actually have it pretty good right now. There are many people out there who don't have these things--but the reality is we are still living in poverty, and we are still homeless.
Poverty has many faces. Homelessness has many faces. For being in both of these situations, we are pretty lucky.
Homelessness for us is not having a place of our own to live-- not necessarily living on the streets.
It's a long story, and one that is personal, so I am going to not bore you with all the details.
But I will say that I have worked very hard at the same job for 3 years pushing hard for a promotion, my husband has been the ultimate stay at home dad, and my children have been our rock and our inspiration.
So before you jump quickly to conclusions, because I have heard them all--this is not about laziness. This is not about people who refuse to "get a job" or "get a better job." This is about people who have hit a hard spot and are trying their hardest to get out of it. This is about a family who loves each other, and supports each other, and will not tolerate any negative stigmatism against our current situation.
Okay, so I will give you a little back story....
I recently had some car problems and had to ask for a ride to work. I knew that my friend would be understanding, but I shuttered to have to tell her of the place she would have to go to pick me up.
We were staying in a hotel. Not like Zac and Cody stayed in, our like Eloise who lives in the plaza. The only thing fancy about this hotel was the name.
I mean, we had a roof over our head, and we were able to cook and feed our family. We had beds to sleep in, and we had a bathroom to take care of our hygiene. We had all the basic needs. We were safe.
But this was definitely not what you would call ideal for a family of 5.
We were there waiting on things to work themselves out. We were there trying to save and plan for a better future. We were there because our lease had ran out at the last place we lived, and the landlord wanted to raise the rent we were already struggling to pay.
I thought I had a plan. I thought we would be okay. I was working with a credit repair agency who sold me on the idea that they could fix our credit and get us into a home in less than 3 months...
I guess I was dreaming.
We are almost to the end of month 4, I am now on maternity leave (not earning pay), and we are 1/2 way across the country staying with family until I have to go back to work in July.
Where are we going back to? I have no clue.
And it breaks my heart because I had promised my children that I would move us back into a forever home. A place where they could grow and make memories. I promised that we would stop the apartment hopping, and get them a house with a yard that they could run and play in. Now, I have absolutely no idea what is going to happen next...
OKAY....enough with the sob story. Remember? I am here to change your thoughts about people in poverty, or the "homeless." So let's get to that :)
During my time in "homelessness" I have pushed harder than ever to move forward with my life. While I have yet to convince people at work that I am worth a promotion yet, I have concentrated a little bit more on my talents at home and have finished my first ever self published children's book, The Kind Knight.
Now, I am nowhere near making the New York Best Seller's List, but I have managed to squeeze through the doors of a few bookstores (as well on the webpages of Amazon and most major book stores). And I think that is pretty bad ass.
What is even more bad ass, is that is that even in my hard times, with this book I have been able to do some amazing outreach opportunities. I have read to a Boys and Girls Club, a Cubscout troop, and a few classrooms. And plan to do more, once baby is born.
I was even able to donate 27 copies of my book to a classroom at Parks Elementary, 3 copies to a woman's shelter in south Louisiana, 6 copies to Give Kids The World, and an amazing 100 copies to the organization Together We Rise. I did this all with funds I raised from my Kickstarter campaign...And I'm not done.
I continue to push forward everyday, because I believe in myself, my family believes in me, and I know that we can continue to work together to get us out of our current situation.
I want you to know that if you are in this situation, I believe in you too. I believe that anyone has the ability to create a bigger and brighter tomorrow for themselves. I also believe that anyone can change the world. All I am asking is for you to believe in yourself and try.
And for those of you not in my situation, don't be so quick to judge. Not everyone who is struggling with poverty is looking for a "handout." A lot of us just want to push forward, and feel normal-- because we are.
Wow. That was a long blog. If you stuck with me this far, thanks for reading!
Don't forget to wear your red noses with pride today and donate if you can: https://www.rednoseday.org/
Be Kind,
Kelly Airhart
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