The Inspired Spaces Foundation was privileged to partner with The Living Room of Santa Rosa for our first project, furnishing its new ADU (additional dwelling unit) as part of its transitional housing program. The Living Room is a non-profit organization that works with women who are homeless or at risk of homelessness and offers a wide range of services, including a path towards permanent housing. The first resident of this ADU is a courageous and resilient 31 year old single mother and her 2 year old son. Having become homeless after being kicked out of her home by her mother-in-law, her young daughter taken away from her by the mother-in-law, and in an abusive relationship with her husband, she turned to drugs [...]

“C” is a young, single mom with a 17 month old son. She has been homeless on and off since about 2017. When she wasn’t homeless, she was still “crowding into someone else’s space” which was frustrating, trying to make it work. It became more challenging once she had her son, as, she described, a lot of people don’t want to live with a baby, or even near a baby. Finding an apartment was “awesome” as it provided stability for her son; a place where he could wake up everyday and have a routine. She believes this is especially important when things come up that may be difficult for a toddler to cope with. This stability gives her son a lot of peace which [...]

“J” is a young single woman who was homeless on and off as a youth. She described growing up in a chaotic and abusive family which consequently led to her living in shelters with other youths, and in group homes. She shared that she suffered a lot at the mercy of her parents, was the blacksheep of the family and was “scapegoated.” She developed mental health issues due to the abuse, which was a major factor in her homelessness. J has experienced being homeless in a couple of different states. She has, at different times, lived with friends, but has always known within herself that it was “me, myself, and I” in which she could consistently rely. J shared that a couple [...]

“K” is a young single mother of 2 small children. She was evicted from her home by a family member, through no fault of her own, sued him to get eviction off her record, and won. He was also her employer, and fired her at the same time. This started her year-long journey of homelessness, and through incredible hard work and perseverance, acquiring an apartment. K has had a history of homelessness with her family, starting at a young age. The first time she and her family went to a shelter, she felt and thought, “I don’t want to live here; this is disgusting.” However, as she took a moment to really see the people around her, she realized they were just like [...]

“L” is a strong, courageous woman, in her 70’s, who embodied grace as she told her story. She was an assistant cook and worked her way up to cook manager, for over a decade, with Sonoma County school districts. In 2015, she found herself evicted from her apartment complex, given the reason that she was using the wrong cleaning products on her surfaces, causing the surfaces to rust. Having lived there for 11 years, with no history of complaints or wrongdoing, she found herself homeless. When asked why she didn’t fight the eviction, given such a weak reason, Loretta explained that she “just needed to survive at that point.” L said her eviction was “when it all started.” Not knowing where to go [...]

“O” is a single father with a 9 year old daughter. He is originally from Honduras, but came to the United States almost 3 years ago because his daughter was being threatened and he needed to flee his country to stay away from the violence. He first arrived in South Carolina where he was then joined by his wife and daughter about 2 months later. Shortly afterwards, his wife decided to separate from him, which motivated his move to California. His daughter made the choice to move with him. His arrival in Sonoma County was the beginning of his experience with homelessness. Arriving in Sonoma County and having no place to shelter, he came across many hurdles, not the least of which [...]

“Y” is a college educated, single mother with a 9 year old vibrant, intelligent and polite son. She moved up from Santa Barbara a couple of years ago to be closer to relatives and with the hope of giving her boy “something better.” In the beginning, she was able to pay rent, however, her situation changed, and, as she was looking at the prospect of becoming homeless, simultaneously, she developed serious health issues. After leaving her living situation with relatives, Y was looking at needing to live in her car with her son. She reached out to Sonoma County but was told that living in a car did not constitute an emergency situation. She had other folks ask her why she just [...]