My name is Latesha, and I am a guest at Talbot Interfaith Shelter.  I started out living at Evelyn’s Place and am now in the Transitional Housing program.  I chose to come to TIS so I could better myself.  I was glad that they had rules and structure because sometimes, when we live on our own, we just go about our lives, winging it.  The structure really helped me.

I love the classes.  One of my favorite classes was Money Management.  Learning the different tools to help me learn how to save, and also being accountable to turn in my bank statements – that definitely pushed me and motivated me more to want to save.

Now that I am in the TIS apartments, I still come back for the TIS Core Values class with DeWayne (Evelyn’s Place Case Manger).  It helps you reflect on daily life.  Sometimes, it’s a refresher and reminds me of things I already know, but a lot of times, he talks about new topics, and I’m grateful because I’m learning.

I think that I have definitely grown in a lot of areas.  I went from not paying anything to having rent, becoming more responsible, and learning how to save.  One big change is that now I open up and don’t isolate when things are going bad.  Normally, I would just want to be myself, but now, I’ll come to the shelter and talk to someone.  That has made a big difference.

I would just like to say thank you to all of the donors and people who make TIS possible.  Please continue to donate because there are others out there that need the support of TIS.  Without you, it’s not possible.

Thank you,