Throughout it all, there were two things that kept her moving forward: her passion for art, and her hope that one day, she would be able to use her experience to help others. All she needed was a place that was hers, where she could take a deep breath and let her gifts flourish. “I told myself that someday, I’d get out of this, and I’d do something good,” she says.
The COVID-19 pandemic has made it that much more important to get people out of shelters and into stable housing. During her most recent shelter stay, Shirley connected with the Community Access Assertive Community Treatment (ACT) team, a group of people Shirley came to trust unconditionally. “All of them,” she says, “I thank every single day of my life.” Through her relationship with the ACT team, Shirley was able to become a tenant at Community Access’ brand new 215-unit apartment building on Bruckner Boulevard in the Bronx.
From the day she moved into her new home, she says, “I knew I wanted to stay here forever.” Her new apartment gives her the space she needs to focus on her art – drawings, paintings, and other crafts. She routinely gives her art away – what’s a gift for if not to be shared? – and she hopes to have an exhibit someday soon.
"I don't know how to express my thanks to everyone who supported me," she says. "But I do my best to express it." Her joy is indeed infectious; it ripples into the lives of others, the building she now calls home, and the whole Community Access community. That's one way she pays it forward: shining her light, and inviting others to shine theirs. She sees herself as something bigger than herself, and her love for others animates everything she does.
“Every day I get a new miracle,” she says, “coming in one by one.”