"I feel untouchable" – Associated Ministries is making a difference

Where do I start…..

My life was weird and violent before I met you guys [Associated Ministries staff]: people passing away, never staying at one school, always having to make new friends, joining new teams.   I guess really the only thing that kept me at bay was soccer.  I played soccer every year since I was 7 years old.  But soccer still didn’t stop what was going on in the outside world.  But, soccer, along my with daughter, IS my world.

Honestly life has gotten a lot better ever since I got here [Associated Ministries Youth Advancement and Housing transitional living program).  I feel blessed that I got a second chance to make myself a better person than I was before.  I mean, I was searching for a place to rejuvenate, gather my thoughts and succeed. I remember this saying “either you can sulk in your past or live it and laugh at it.“  I got cheated on while I was homeless and it just added on to the stress.  Lester [Men’s Home Resident Coordinator] helped me get through that by giving me advice seeing that I became stronger, not just physically, but mentally.

I feel untouchable – I got two jobs, I’m graduating high school.  Like this program has given me more than I could ever imagine – a stable place, a safe environment, my oasis of hope.  I never once thought that something like this would come into play, but as I look at it, some of the decisions that I made play a role in my future.  Getting kicked out of foster care for stupid reasons was the best thing that happened to me.  I’m on my own, I see that, but you should see the millions of people that want to help and support.  And, the things I have accomplished since day one. I wanted to sulk and be like “why me?”, but I saw this as an opportunity to further my skills and to call this home.  Coming off the street, this is a huge deal.

I thank you all for showing me quality and perfection at its finest.

Sincerely,
Lorenzo Floyd