Not like home for holidays
Raellen Talbot never imagined she’d be homeless for the holidays.
But then, in late 2006, the Stardust closed. Talbot lost her job taking room reservations, and had a difficult time finding another.
“At my age, it’s not as easy,” the 60-year-old said. “I have great credentials, but they want the young.”
Soon, Talbot was also struggling to pay her rent. She became seriously depressed.
When the police showed up at her mobile home park to evict her four months ago, she told them that she and her 5-year-old Chihuahua, “Beans,” had no place to go. The officers recommended The Shade Tree, a downtown shelter for homeless women and children.
The shelter found a foster home for Beans. Meanwhile, Talbot looked upon the upcoming holiday season with dread.
“I thought I couldn’t take it,” she said. “I just really fell apart.”
Talbot is one of more than 200 women and children who will be living at The Shade Tree during the holidays.
Trying to make the season a little brighter for those whose lives have fallen apart is undoubtedly a tough task. But local businesses and volunteers who step up this time of year make things a lot easier, said Kelly O’Shaughnessy, The Shade Tree’s chief development officer.
Fitzgeralds hosted a holiday dinner for the shelter’s women and children, O’Shaughnessy said. Starbucks brought in hot chocolate and pastries. School children drop by regularly to share cookies and Christmas carols. Sponsors “adopt” the shelter’s children and provide gifts for each of them. Churches and dozens of other groups find their own ways to provide some holiday cheer.
On Christmas morning, Santa will spend hours with the children.
“We just keep everybody having fun and active,” O’Shaughnessy said. “There’s a real sense of community here. They are celebrating together.”
It’s enough to make someone who’s dreading the holidays actually enjoy them.
“They have something every night with the kids,” Talbot said. “The kids are really amazing. They just go right on with their lives. It makes you feel like going on, too.”
Talbot, who had never been homeless before, is getting treatment for her depression.
She’s been learning how to deal with the deaths of all of her remaining family members over the past several years.
She’s also been working with shelter staff on building a better résumé and has taken advantage of classes offered there to learn more about interviewing, self-esteem, budgeting and other life skills. And she’s been interviewing for jobs that pay enough for her to become self-sufficient.
“I just want enough for an apartment for me and the dog,” she said, adding that she’d like to eventually live in a senior citizens community. “I don’t mind a simple life.”
The future is beginning to look a lot less grim.
“I’ve learned patience from all of this,” Talbot said. “I’ve seen a side of things I didn’t know existed. I’ve seen how many people are homeless and why.”
She’s learned that many of the perceptions people have about the homeless are false.
“People have misconceptions about why people are homeless. They think they don’t want to work.”
O’Shaughnessy said The Shade Tree has temporarily housed women from all walks of life who have fallen on hard times or have been the victims of domestic violence.
“We’ve had Ph.D.’s in here,” she said.
This year, on Christmas morning, Talbot plans to enjoy watching the children in the shelter open their presents.
And, now, when people tell her to have a happy holiday, she smiles.
“Believe it or not, it will be.”
Contact reporter Lynnette Curtis at lcurtis @reviewjournal.com or (702) 383-0285.
