A Family’s Struggle

For Jeremiah the hardest part about giving up your bed to sleep in a tiny U-Haul trailer or a van is being squished. When his mom and dad lay down to sleep, the 8-year-old was crowded into a corner to make room for everyone.

For his parents, the hardest part of homelessness was watching Jeremiah endure it. “We tried to shelter him. We never talked about being homeless in front of him, but he felt the stress,” his mother, Ashley says.

Since he was 3, Jeremiah has wanted to be scientist. A math whiz, his dream seemed possible until Bo was injured and lost his job. Then the family lost their apartment and new car. Moving their remaining possessions into a 5’ x 5’ storage locker, they lived for three weeks in a trailer before living in their van in a Hy-Vee parking lot. As winter set in, the family stayed in a homeless shelter for five weeks…but, then they timed-out.

“We drove to a Hy-Vee parking lot and parked our van. We were out of gas, out of money and out of options,” Ashley remembers.

“Bo found Joppa online and wanted to call,” Ashley says, “but I’d given up. We’d asked for help for weeks, but no one seemed to care about us or Jeremiah. I honestly didn’t think we’d ever get help.”

But Bo called Joppa anyway and Aimee Smith, Joppa Client Services Director, drove out to meet them. “Aimee came in her own car and brought her two kids with her,” Ashley says with amazement. “She didn’t know us. We could have been crazy people. But there she was with food and a room for us!”

“When I met those Joppa kids, it was great,” Jeremiah says bouncing with enthusiasm. “One of them plays basketball and he was 8, and I was 7 and three-quarters, so we became friends, and now we’re planning to have a Nerf war sometime.”

With the help of St. Boniface church in Waukee, Joppa moved the family to an extended-stay motel and helped them find jobs nearby. Now Joppa delivers groceries each Sunday and is working with them to find a more permanent, sustainable living situation.

“After Joppa came, I got a good bed and I got to sleep in a good place,” Jeremiah says with satisfaction. “Joppa has been just amazing,” Ashley laughs. “They are insanely wonderful people and have restored my faith in humanity. We’ve been (in the extended-stay motel) since the day after Christmas, but we won’t be here forever. We have plans, we have hope.”

And Jeremiah has a future again, she believes. “We just want him to become who he is supposed to be, to give him better than we’ve been able to give him so far.”

Jeremiah is already wise beyond his years. At the shelter, he told those leaving for the night, “God bless you on the streets tonight.” He’s learned that homelessness can squish you, body and spirit.

UPDATE: The family was surrounded with a Circle of Friends and is back into housing! To become a Joppa donor, visit joppa.org/donate.