Evonne

Evonne, a Housing Stability Coordinator for Person Centered Housing Options, calls her clients the boss. It’s her job is to listen and peel back the layers until it becomes clear what they need to make progress on their stability goals. When they uncover it, that is when the results start coming in.

Doing that work started with peeling back her own layers.

“My childhood was very rocky. My mom did he best to keep us together, but that meant me and my brother alongside her sleeping on friends’ couches, in hallways, and sometimes garages while she was in active addiction. So, when I got to be a teen, that’s what I did — I got into the streets and unhealthy relationships,” Evonne said.

Her first child, a daughter, was born a week before Evonne’s 15th birthday. Her son was born by the time she turned 17. In between, she found support with an aunt and uncle, but rebellion came easier than staying off the streets and in school.

Her daughter’s father and his family took on raising their child and later, after Evonne’s second felony offense at age 20, another uncle took in her son.

“I had done what I knew to survive, following what I saw growing up around the drug business. Prison really felt like my destiny, and when I started my 4-and-a-half-year sentence, I struggled with being away from my kids — but I also embraced that time, starting with getting my GED,” she said. It was her first step on the pathway to helping people who were experiencing what she had experienced.

Evonne earned the highest score in her GED class and said in her valedictory speech that she wanted to work with youth and adults. Her lived experience was a story she knew could make a difference. Even the experience of briefly falling back on old behaviors during her first year post-parole.

“I was finally done with that old life and truly wanted to stay focused on my family and goals,” she said. Her next step was earning an associate’s degree in Human Services and Addictions Counseling at MCC.

Evonne put it to work for over a decade at Center for Youth, a social services agency that helps homeless and troubled youth. There she made powerful connections as a triage counselor, and later as the leader of a team of triage counselors. Eventually, she saw there were systemic limitations to helping older teens.

“18-to-24-year-olds get less support simply because they no longer qualify for services for minors. I saw them struggling during that critical transition to adulthood when they are most vulnerable to poor choices. I know that struggle, so I asked myself, ‘How do I put the brakes on that,’ and I prayed on it and opened myself to follow where I am needed,” she said.

Her Uncle Calvin, a role model for Evonne and the uncle who helped raise her son, was a longtime member of PCHO’s Street Outreach Team. “I made the choice to transition to adult housing and case management at PCHO, especially for families, but I maintain my connections to Center for Youth so I can make seamless referrals when, for example, a client’s teen might need mentorship,” she said.

Today, Evonne is very close to her mother, who is 22 years clean, and she credits her entire family as a source of strength and pride. Evonne and her husband, who had similar experiences, provide deep support for one another. The successes of her son and daughter, who have made her a grandmother seven times over, give her joy every day.

“My kids know and understand my story, but it can still be painful to think about what I might’ve put them through all those years ago. I thought I would not break that generational curse. But we did,” she said. Adding, “Now I’m trying to do the same for the people I work for through PCHO. I want to get to these kids before the streets do, and if one comes back to show me their success, it makes my day and it keeps me going.”