Kevin: “A Chance to Solve Everything”

Kevin Williams and his sister were dealt life’s most difficult hand – both of their parents passed away when they were young children.

By age 10, Williams and his sister were orphans. Their grandmother raised them, but the large void from the loss of their mother and father could never be completely filled again.

“It was definitely a challenge, we had to get used to it,” Williams said. “There’s a lot that I felt I missed. I kept a sad place in my heart about it all.”

That sense of loss in childhood put Williams on a path toward economic instability in adulthood, followed by housing insecurity.

Still, he persevered. He was gainfully employed and sharing a home with his girlfriend. But when they broke up, he suddenly did not have a home. He stayed with his sister as he continued to work and look for new apartments. But not having a place of his own for two years led him to suffer health issues, and his mental health spiraled.   

“I lost everything and I was going through a lot,” he said. “Staying positive was the hardest challenge and I fell into depression.”

Williams said his fortune changed for the better when he got connected to Abode, whose staff members helped him gained housing of his own in the East Bay. Having a home of his own has made all the difference.

“I needed this time alone to get myself together,” he said. “I didn’t get back to being myself until I was living here.”

He has since joined Abode’s Lived Experience Advisory Board (LEAB) to help others who are struggling as once did. The LEAB board aims to utilize members’ lived experience of homelessness to improve Abode’s efforts to help those who are currently unhoused.

Williams said, as a LEAB member, he has similar goals.

“I just want to make sure the program is beneficial to the people who need it,” he said. “We want the plans in our curriculum to everyone’s needs.”  

And Williams knows what those needs might involve.

“Just getting a roof over your head doesn’t solve everything, but it helps you feel like you have a chance to solve everything,” he said.

Williams praises the Housing First approach that Abode favors, which finds that once one has a roof over their head, the services that follow are much more effective at helping them gain and keep their housing.

“Having your own home, no matter what, makes a big difference,” he said. “A roof over your head gives you a foundation. Even when I didn’t have much here at my place, I still felt better because at least it was mine.”

Now that he has his own home, he aims to maintain the progress that he has made in his life. He wants to gain full-time work, keep his housing, and continue to pay all his bills.

As he pursues those goals, his spirit is bolstered by the fact that he and his sister can continue to show each other support. And he can now return the favor and host her for dinner at his apartment

As someone who has experienced homelessness before, Williams said he also is eager to use his life lessons to benefit others.

“I was feeling lost at one time in my life and I don’t want anyone to feel like that,” he said.