T’keyah’s Story – Orange County

Jun 14, 2018

Holding on to Hope and the Power of Positivity

By T’keyah Edwards

I am a girl. A girl with a very creative imagination. One that I bring to life. I believe that life is what you make it. The world is filled with so many beautiful places and people that are taken for granted.

At the beginning of this year I was at rock bottom. Then I came across the law of attraction from a friend of mine. I realized that I could change my perspective on how I view situations in my life, so I started doing so. I started meditating and saying positive affirmations in my head. In no time I started attracting wonderful people who completely changed me. That’s how StandUp For Kids came into my life.

I bought a little notepad and wrote “goals for 2018” on the front. Then I began to write things that I want to accomplish with the first thing on the list being “have my own apartment”. A space where I can be myself and create the life that I want to live one day. I got a call from Brittany at StandUp For Kids saying they are working with a program which got a grant to house a few homeless individuals and that she referred me. I was so stunned because I would have never expected anything like that to happen to me. She went on to say that they will pay my deposit to move in and if my credit isn’t too good (which it wasn’t), they would double it to get me approved. At that moment I began to break down into tears and she said they will also pay my rent for six months.

At that moment, I fell madly in love with life. So, the search for my dream apartment began! At first, I was getting a little discouraged because none of the apartments I was looking at worked with programs like this one. I visited one last place and they turned me down. I started looking online and my phone scrolled completely by itself to an apartment in Anaheim. I gave them a call and explained everything and they said yes! They had worked with this organization previously.

The next day had arrived and I went straight there to view the unit and instantly my heart lit up. I knew I was home. It is the cutest little one-bedroom apartment with a spacious walk in closet and a huge living room. My favorite is the balcony that looks over the neighborhood with beautiful trees that I love. I moved in a few days later.

And for the first time, I finally felt safe and taken care of. I didn’t have any furniture when I moved in and StandUp For Kids and all the loving, supportive people they work with donated and furnished my entire apartment.

I have so much gratitude for what StandUp For Kids does. They have completely changed my life and given me stability. It has humbled me in so many ways and taught me that we really do create our own realities and if we just change how we view things, we can change our lives and live to our highest potential.

When you feel that your situation will never change, I ask you to go deep inside and find the light, because everything is temporary and you will overcome it.