..from the streets...

By Molly Finlay McInytre

This is the story of the time I spent homeless in Austin, Texas, during the years of 2011 and 2012. Prior to this, I was a substitute teacher who could not seem to get a full-time teaching job, so one day I was evicted. I started out at the Redemption Group, then into the woods, then stayed a short while at medical respites, on and off. It’s about the people. It’s about the brotherhood. It’s about life and death. It’s about a faith beyond measure that grew within me and it’s about knowing that God was always by my side.

• Language: English
• Publisher: Page Publishing, Inc.
• Release date: Jul 26, 2017
• ISBN: 9781635685558

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. . from the streets . . .

Molly Finlay McIntyre

He restores the years that the locusts ate away.

Joel 2:25

Copyright © 2017 Molly Finlay McIntyre

All rights reserved

First Edition

PAGE PUBLISHING, INC.

New York, NY

First originally published by Page Publishing, Inc. 2017

ISBN 978-1-63568-554-1 (Paperback)

ISBN 978-1-63568-555-8 (Digital)

Printed in the United States of America

Dedication

I wish to lovingly dedicate this volume to a late friend I knew out there. He was a wonderful human being, smart, gorgeous and a good friend. This one goes out to Matthew Marquis, 1978-2011, Austin, Texas. I still think of you and miss you, Matthew.

Acknowledgements

To Angel House, Caritas, Trinity/St. David’s Episcopal Church, Mobile Loaves and Fishes, Church Under the Bridge and all who were in service to us, many thanks and blessings for your care, kindness, and prayers. And to the people on the streets every day, everywhere, I thank all of you folks whose mutual experiences are helping me tell our story. Hang in there. I wish you peace, prosperity, protection, health, joy, and hope.

Foreword

When we were kids, we learned about some distant kind of folks called hobos. They were even in the funny papers.

They walked alone, wooden pole over their shoulder, bandana sack attached.

Your imagination made up what was inside the bag. Too young to know that it was filled with everything they owned, and probably all their hopes and dreams.

We wondered, but never knew, who they were or where they had come from, too young to imagine whom they might love or who might love them.

As a child, I didn’t think much more about hobos, too innocent to feel sad.

Many years later, I find myself on a city street holding up a sign.

One might wonder what happened to the years in between. Well, I think they call it life. One thing that didn’t help me was that I had a history of depression which was my too-constant companion since childhood. I first tried suicide when I was eight years old. It’s the cards you were dealt, but I found that you can always switch to the dealer you believe in and trust.

Introduction

When homelessness strikes, it comes as a shock. It did for me. You know that things are turning down and that funds are low, but you don’t really think that it could happen to you. It takes a lot out of you, but if you can survive, it can strengthen your core values and give you a new outlook on mankind and life. My prayer is that through it all, many may come to know and trust in our Savior, Jesus Christ. He loves you and He is taking care of you.

In the days before I lost my apartment, I was going full-steam ahead in trying to get a full-time teaching job, and also trying to get back into the legal field, but my legal experience was too old. I had worked as a substitute for one district for many years. I would tell people "You can almost make a living as a substitute teacher". But, after seven years with one district and several more years with others, I couldn’t any more.

Chapter 1

Faithful Friends

Iam an elementary school teacher, certified to teach grades 1-8, having taught full-time, tutored, and substituted in Special Education, and Kinder through 12th grade. I hold or have held teaching certificates in the states of Connecticut, California and Texas.

In Del Valle, Texas, in 2010, I was fired by a very unjust Human Resources manager after subbing for seven years in that district. She had been a principal and had a reputation of unjustly firing people. Where do you put a displaced principal? Human Resources, of course.

There were teachers and students who were thrilled to have me there at their school and in their classroom. But, HR wasn’t aware of that, I guess. I have spent 20 years teaching, guiding, and loving on America’s children, our most valuable resource. Yet, I ended up homeless.

While I was teaching, I went back to school to be a court reporter. I left with a 4.0, because I was afraid that my speed might not be courtroom worthy. Then I transferred to a school to become a certificated paralegal. I graduated and worked mostly in bankruptcy law. That did not work out well, either. Lawyers have a bad rep for a reason. There are many upstanding lawyers in our nation, but I worked for some pompous jerks.

After I lost my job with the school district, I spent four months studying and testing to prepare for the Post Office examination. After a time I stopped getting answers to my emails. So, I went to the Post Office and spoke with a postal worker. I was told that I had been dealing with a fraudulent company, that the Post Office does not post jobs publicly. Another tremendous letdown.

I have no idea why and how things went so bad for me. I have about 13 letters of reference from bosses in the cellular sales arena, from lawyers I supported, from clients, from principals, from teachers, even from students. I also have a certificate stating that I was The Most Valuable Substitute Teacher during a particular school year, presented to me by a middle school in Hays CISD, Kyle, Texas.

But, I guess that my references weren’t enough.

By court order, I was directed to vacate my home of five years, my apartment, on May 31, 2011. With some grace from the apartment complex, I completed my evacuation on June 3rd.

To back up about 3 1/2 weeks, on May 9th, I had had a rope around my neck. There was more determination in me that night, just to get on with it, than I could imagine anyone having. This was it! They wouldn’t have Molly McIntyre to kick around any more. My son didn’t speak to me, didn’t love me, I was sure at that time. Who cares about jobs, or cars, or anything else? Your kids are the bottom line. I had lost mine. I was done!

The only reason that I did not succeed in calling it quits that night was that the hand of God stopped me. That is the only way I can figure it. It was not my will to continue to breathe but, it was His. God said, You’re done with your life, Moll. I’m not. I’ve got more for you to do.

So, by God’s love and grace, two weeks or so after I had taken that rope off my neck, and the court handed down the eviction, amazingly, there were no thoughts of suicide, there was no depression, no despair. That was all gone. It was a lesson in trusting Him. Praise my God. I had to get on with whatever was to come.

During that time I seemed to sit at my computer, day after day, emailing everyone on the planet to please come help me pack and move. Nothing. The only responses I was getting were, out of town, will be at a wedding. However, I had gotten put on the SOS (Servants on Stand-by) list by a kind and caring person. SOS is an organization of volunteers from a number of Austin area churches.

They provided a service to me that I could not have gotten anywhere else.

It’s like I turned around from my computer and there were about a dozen people there from three different churches packing and helping and loading boxes into to the Ryder truck outside. I was using a storage facility that was, thankfully, right across the street.