by Georgia Mjartan, Executive Director
Six months ago, when Renessa was interviewed for the documentary
series Project Voice, she was working as a housekeeper at a hotel.
It was a job she hated, but as a resident of Our House she knew
that working was a critical component of her journey out of homelessness. Renessa is a nurse, so taking the housekeeping job was a
difficult and humbling choice. But she did it for her daughter. As
she describes in her interview, she went to work. Every day. To a
job she hated.
But today, Renessa has a job she loves. Renessa is a nurse at Little
Rock Pediatric Clinic. This week she was busy giving flu shots to
kids. In her spare moments she organizes the medical supplies
and helps her colleagues with their projects. It is thanks to her
colleague Nadia King that she has this job.
The same week that Renessa’s story aired, she got a car. Then she
got a call from Nadia. Nadia was Renessa’s daughter’s nurse. She
had seen Renessa’s video and immediately looked for a way to
help. An opening at Little Rock Pediatric provided Nadia with the
opportunity to reach out to Renessa about the job.
Today Renessa and her daughter Karissa are no longer homeless.
Karissa is now happy and succeeding at school in large part thanks
to therapy she received while at Our House.
And just as Renessa has a job she loves, her six-year-old daughter
has a “job” too. Standing outside a clinic room, Renessa shared
with me the story of her daughter coming home from school and
saying, “mom, you know I have a job?” Renessa said, “yes, I know
you do. Your job is to go to school and learn.” Karissa said, “No,
mom. A real job. My job is to take up all the mats after snack time.”