The Days of Being at S.R.O.

I was homeless and staying at the welcome center. A division of the Opportunity Center. In El Paso TX. I was miserable, and unhappy. Then they referred me to the lady over S.R.O. I did the paperwork got accepted, I moved in as soon as a room opened up. I was happy. I got a job at a different shelter for women. I worked there at night from 4pm to 9pm. I loved it. Then on Thanksgiving I decided one beer wouldn't hurt, then I wanted another one. after my second beer I decided to call the first lady of the ministry I was I asked if I could come back because I relapsed.She came and got me . I fundraised. worked events did Bible studies. It was faith based. It's a good place for you if you're wanting to get off drugs and alcohol. and even if you're homeless and want to get off the streets, Because you are not allowed to stay in the shelters. And if you just want a place to shower eat and sleep. They will take you in. Even if you are a felon they will take you in. That is the main reason I didn't like being there, because you don't know if the person they are bringing in from the prison that is a felon. if that person is a mass murderer, or what. So they are putting lives in danger by accepting them in. I got tired of fundraising and having to turn it all in because they raise your quarter so high that you can not make overflow. Because they let you keep what you made over your goal. Don't get me wrong it might be the right place for some people, but it's not the right place for me. So I left again. I went to stay at the welcome center again so I could be referred back to the S.R.O. I did the paperwork again. Got reaccepted. I had to stay at the welcome center another month before a room came open. As soon as the room opened up I moved back in. I love this place it's a great place to live; Incase you are wondering what S.R.O. stands for; Single Room Occupant. I have a TV a bed and a refrigerator in my room. Have to share the kitchen, the shower room, the bathroom, and the laundry room. But other than that it's like having my own place. The housing authority pays the rent for you. Until you get income, after you get income you pay only 30% of your monthly salary Which is cheaper than renting a apartment. We are like family here. I'm also in charge of opening and closing the kitchen., so I get up at 5am and get the coffee going.then at 6 am i'd open the kitchen, close it at 8 am. Open it for lunch at 12 noon. close it at 2 pm. open it at 4 pm. for dinner and close it again for the night at 6 pm. The residents here knows the schedule so they automatically know when it's open and when it's closed. I would only have to open and close it Monday through Friday.It did not open on Saturday or Sunday. Because there is no staff here on those days. I also help the staff here with anything they need help with. On Wednesday we have house meetings we make up the menu on those days. We have a cook that cooks for us on Mondays, Wednesdays, and Fridays. but on Tuesday and Thursday we have to fend for ourselves. The lady over the place does everything she can for us. She calls around and finds donations for us. She helps us if we need to fill out paperwork for something. I really appreciate everything they do for me here. The lady that owns the place told me the story on how they started the place from scratch. In my next story I'll tell you the interesting story. I'm single but I have found a boyfriend that I can go visit and spend weekends with as long as I fill out the vacation slip I'm good. My boyfriend lives around the corner. I go spend weekends with him sometimes not all the time. I even go doggy sit for the lady over this place. Whenever she goes out of town, of course no one else is supposed to know so it's our little secret. We have a lot of fun here. On the second Thursday of every month we have a group of kids, from the Christian Harvest Church come and we play games and the kids dance and sing for us. They give us candy toilet paper, cupcakes, soda. and the sing happy birthday to the ones that have birthdays for the month. I help with the donations on the weekends when we get them. I even have to turn off the alarm when it goes off and no staff is here. I enjoy doing the things I do for them. Because it's the least I can do. I've made friends here. They were here for me when my baby brother passed away. If I need someone to talk to someone is always here for me. I try my best to keep this whole place clean on the weekends. So if you ever come to El Paso TX and want a tour of the place you are more than welcome to. We don't mind showing people the place and how beautiful it is. Just call the lady over this place and set up a tour. She will be happy to. I always show people my room on the tours so they can see what the rooms are like. And how nice they are. I would recommend this place to anyone. Later in the story I will tell you how I met my boyfriend and about the romance. But right now I'm telling you about the place and what it's about so that you get a pretty much idea of what this place is about We have mass on Friday mornings we have Bible studies two nights a month. we have the rosary on the 2nd Wednesday of every month. I participate in every event they have going on here. We always have fun laughing and joking around with each other. We have a free clinic that we go to those of us that don't have insurance. It's called Centro San Vicente. It's in the same building as the Opportunity Center. so it's easy access. I also like it that residents are not allowed to have relationships with each other here, because it is for the safety and the respect of others. The rules here are very understandable and for our protection. I like to relax in my room and read a book and play mobile games on my cell phone. On Thanksgiving we have groups that bring us thanksgiving dinner. For Christmas we have different groups that bring us Christmas gifts and stuff. and Christmas dinner. So we never have a dull moment here at S.R.O. It has three floors a total of 20 people here. On the first floor is 4 rooms. the kitchen and the dinning room. On the second floor there are 8 rooms, and on the third floor there are 8 rooms. The first floor are only for women to stay. It only has a woman bathroom and shower room. The second floor is men and women it has a men and a woman bathroom and shower room. On the third floor there are men and women. It also has a men a woman bathroom and shower room. Every floor has a laundry room with a washer and dryer in it. The washer and dryer are donated by people for us. Each room has a certain day for doing laundry. We have a beautiful backyard. We have a little smoking area for us smokers. So we are all as comfortable as can be here. I also like that everyone must follow the rules. If they don't they get a write up. After so many write ups you will get a 30 day notice to move out. But everyone is really nice to each other even the ones that don't like each other because they know there's no fighting here. If you are caught fighting you get kicked out right then. for being violent. I usually do my laundry on Mondays and Thursdays. I am very close to the lady over this place. I am her eyes and ears on the weekends. When no staff is here, I let her know what goes on when they are not here. I even take videos for her if needed to. Which I very seldom have to take a video. I usually just have to tell her about the weekend. I am trying to get my disability started. I have a legal aid attorney. I'm praying I get approved this time. I have been denied 3 times already. So I'm praying hard for my disability this time around. Disability is very hard to get. It use to be easy to get. Not anymore though. I want to thank you all for reading my story. No I'm not done yet. I was just thanking everyone so I don't forget. I walk to family dollar at least once a week for something. I take surveys to keep myself in cigarettes until I get my disability. I'm not having to pay rent yet because I don't have any income. But hopefully that will change real soon. Because I want to be able to pay rent for staying here. So if you really want to know more about this place you can always ask me. Or you can ask the lady over the place. We both would be happy to answer any questions you may have. Even though we have our own room and TV and refrigerators this place is still considered a shelter so that the state will pay to keep this place open. This is a great program it's for men and women 55 and Older. They made a exception with me. And I'm so grateful for it. I pray the moment I wake up and right before I go to bed at night. Most US here get food stamps so we can get groceries and eat. Some things are donated to the place. I really appreciate all the donations that are given to us all the time. The city of El Paso really care about us. So does the county of El Paso. So does the lady over this place. We try to look out for each other too. We make sure each other has plenty to eat and stuff. We check on each other to make sure we are ok. I am very happy here. I have people I can talk to about things. And there are people who talk to me when they need to talk to someone. I am free to come and go as I want to. As long as I am home by curfew. I am a happy person here cause I can do what I want, I can go wherever I want whenever I want to. I am always here to answer the door unless I have to go to the store or something. So please don't hesitate to ask questions about the place. Now a little bit about my childhood; I was abused by my stepdad, he tried to kill me with an axe. I was only 8 years old. I was happy when my mom left him. So I was able to be happy again. I then was able to go up like a normal girl. My mom was my best friend growing up. I was able to talk to her about anything and not worry about being judged. When I was 16 I met a man named Bruce we fell in love. I talked my mom into letting me marry him. We got married I found out I was 2 months pregnant. Bruce started being abusive and cheating on me, but I stuck with him. I finally left him. We got divorced. I moved with my daughter to Oklahoma. I got with a man named Pony we got a apartment together. That's when he started showing his real side. One night I asked a friend to babysit my daughter, we had a party. We was drunk, he decided to pour beer all over me, he left. I made a wrong decision to go get my daughter from the babysitter. I should have left her there all night because that was the original plan. Anyway, I went and got her brought her home. We were laying down when I heard a knock on the door. It was the police. I haven't gotten groceries yet so my refrigerator only had leftover stew in it. when they checked the refrigerator, they took my daughter away from me. I blamed Pony for it. I took off walking all over Oklahoma City looking for him. I was so pissed at him I might have hurt him super bad if I had found him. Lucky for him I never found him that night. But I left him a message with his friend Danny. I told him to tell Pony to come get his stuff. A month later Danny asked me if he could come live with me,I said yes. So we started a relationship together. Then Danny turned out to be abusive towards me so we broke up. At court I asked the judge to put my daughter with my dad and stepmom, I didn't want my daughter raised by strangers. So my dad and stepmom raised my daughter for me. Now back to this day and age. I'm in the S.R.O. I'm 54 years old. I'm single and happy. but I do have a boyfriend we are just not living together. We are better off like this because I'm happy with the way my life is. And he is happy with the way his life is. We spend time together then at the end of the day I go to my home, he goes to his home. We talk on the phone all the time. I'm not going to tell you how we met just yet, that is later in the story. So, I am trying to get my disability started I have been denied 3 times already. So hopefully this time I will get approved. Now, I wake up every morning I pray to God then I go get the coffee started. then I open the kitchen. I hope you are enjoying this story. I hope you will read my future stories as well. This one is the only story that will be based on real life. My other stories will be fictional. Romantic and beautiful. I promise you will like my next story better. If you want to leave me a comment about this story or have questions I will leave my email at the end. My dad was my hero growing up. Anytime I needed rescued he came to my rescue. He was a good man. He was a strong man who loved me no matter what. I would not be who I am now if my dad and mom didn't raise me right. But they raised me the best way they could. I made a lot of mistakes in my life, but they never once judged me or disowned me for it I couldn't have asked for better parents. Ok, now back to this day. I am living here by myself and enjoying it. I'm having so much fun being by myself. I never thought I'd be this happy living by myself. It's amazing what you can do when you live by yourself. I can cook whatever I want to eat and not worry about if my partner is going to like it or not. I can watch what I want to on TV. I don't have to answer to anyone about where I'm going, what time I'm coming back, or how long it's going to take. Ok, now for what I promised you earlier in the story, I am going to tell you how I met my boyfriend. I was walking to the store, he was sitting on his porch every time I walked by we would say hi and ask how each other are. He would always be on his porch when I went to and from the store. I had to walk because I have no vehicle. One day he saw me coming home from the store, he got up off his porch and walked up to me. He introduced himself and I introduced myself we started talking and laughing and just having a great conversation. I then told him I better get home before my food went bad he said ok. So I went home the next day I had a doctor's appointment so I went to go to the doctor. On my way back he came up to me and we started talking again. This time he said he would really like to get to know me better, I told him I would like the same thing. So he asked me for my number. I gave him my number, he called me the next day and asked me to go on a date with him. I said yes. He took me to a fancy restaurant for a romantic dinner. Then we went for a long walk in the park talking and learning more about each other. We held hands, laughed. then we got in his car and headed home. When we got to my home, he jumped out of the car went around to my side and opened the door for me. He grabbed my hands and turned me towards him he grabbed my chin with his forefinger and thumb and turned my face up to face him. He bent down and kissed me, the kiss tasted so good. I felt some amazing energy coming from the kiss. He asked when we could go out again. I told him when he wanted to go out again to give me a call. A week later he called me and asked me out to the movies, so we went to the movies, went to have dinner at a nice restaurant. Not fancy like the first one, but nice. After we ate we went for a long walk in the park again. This time he stopped me by an old oak tree. Pushed me into the tree not hard just in a loving way in a longing way. He put my back against the tree bent down and kissed me. He kissed me long and hard and I started having butterflies in my stomach. I had this urge for him. it was so strong, and I could tell he was feeling the same way. He said let's go to my place and I said yes. So we went to his place, we made passionate love. it was so wonderful it felt like it was my first time all over again. He made me feel so special like I'm the only woman in the world. Now we have to see each other everyday, we just don't want to live together. Because we don't want to ruin what we have already. If I need money he gives it to me without any questions. He tries to support me all the time. He is so good to me. He is tall dark and handsome. Yes I am a white woman and I like black men. I have black friends that tell me I'm more black than they are. He is so romantic and sweet he does so much for me. He makes me happy, I try to make him happy. He says I make him happy. So back to where I am living, I try to cook for myself at least once a week. If I don't cook then I'm heating something in the microwave to eat. I want to also let you know that we are always here for each other here. Because this is for the elderly mostly then they are very Leary about who comes in and out of the building. Everyone that we give tours to is amazed by the place and how nice it is they always thank me for showing them my room. Usually after we give the tour the visitor is so amazed that they start donating to the place to help keep it open. Even the county is amazed by the place. The county even donates stuff to the place. It's so wonderful what they do for us. Please let me know what you think about this story. I promise the next one won't be as boring. I just think people need to be made aware of all the homeless people around. I also think more people would help if they knew. So if you ever have questions about the place or about homelessness and how you might be able to help please do not hesitate to email me. I will do my best to answer the question and find the answers for you. I will be giving you my email address shortly. so please remember if you have any questions just email me. Please send prayers up to heaven for me that my disability gets approved. That I will have a better year this year. I have made really good friends here. I am the youngest of all the people staying here. This place is really for 55 and over but I'm 54 they made an exception for me. It's only a year younger than the usual age but I still love it here in this place. I hope you will give me a chance I have always dreamed of being a writer. I just never knew if I have what it takes. But now I decided to give it a try and see if I can do it. So please give me a chance to show you what I can do. I promise you won't regret it. My stories in the future will be way more interesting than this one. This is my first time trying to write a book. So forgive me if it is a little bit repetitive. I'm just trying to get you to see how important it is to me for you to give me a chance. I Hope one day to find a publisher I know I will eventually. I want to always be an inspiration to people. I love to tell people about God and his love. I love to share the Bible with people and answer questions about God. God has blessed me so much I can't even name all the blessings I can't even count all of the blessings God has given me. God provides and protects me. I believe Jesus died on the cross for our sins so that they can be forgiven. One day I hope to write a book of inspiration too. I hope I will be able to get it published. I also promise that in my next story the chapters won't be as long. I am still trying to figure this site out. ok so if you have any questions about this place or about homelessness and how you can be of any help please email me at..... pamelalawson726@g*******m. in the subject line please put questions for you to answer. I'll get back to you as soon as I can. With answers to your questions. Hopefully I will be able to explain it all to you. And you will see how helpful this place is and how helpful donations can be. I am not asking for donations here I'm just letting you know that there are ways you can help. I would also love to hear from you about what you think about this story. So that my next one will be better. I'm always open to feedback. So please do not hesitate to let me know what you think. Also you can let me know what you would like to read about for my next book. I'm thinking about romance, maybe a thriller ,or maybe drama. So let me know what you want to read and that's what I will write about because I'm always going to be about satisfying my readers. I want to write things that are interesting to my readers. I am a people pleaser anyway. So I can be a better writer for you guys. And I will be able to get better the more I write. I'm sorry I am a beginner I hope to get more experienced. I think you guys will like my next book. Because it is going to be something that you suggest for me to write about. I am hoping to live a long and happy life. I know I am going to be at this place until I die. I don't want to live anywhere else but here. I have made too many friends to leave this place. I know that they don't want me to leave either. They tell me all the time. I am the lady over the place's number one. She tells me I am all the time. Because I help her out all the time. I collect the donations on the weekends for her. I take pictures of the donations and get the donors name for her so that she can post a thank you to the donor on f*******:. The next time I doggy sit for her I'll take pictures and put them on the cover of the book that I write at that time. So if you also want to send me a friend request on f*******: feel free to my f*******: name is Pamela Lin Lawson. after you send me a friend request just message me on messenger and let me know that you are on of my readers of my book. I'll be more than happy to accept it. Because I want to always be there for my readers. I want to always be there to answer questions for my readers. I promise that I will always do my best to write stuff that will satisfy my readers. No matter the genre of the story. If you want to read a book about fantasy, romance, a thriller, a horror, or drama just let me know. I promise to do my best. I want to keep you on your toes if you want a thriller or a horror. If you want a drama I'll keep you wondering. if it's a romance I'll have you daydreaming about it. If it's fantasy you will also be taken to a different world. I will keep your mind wondering what is going to happen next. I'll have you hoping for certain things to happen. I'll have you rooting for certain lovers to be together. Whatever you want to read about please let me know either by email or by sending me a friend request on f*******:. I will not be offended if you want to give me any advice on how to make my stories more interesting. I will do my best to improve my writing. All you have to do is give me your feedback and it will help me to improve my writing. So that I can always write something that will be interesting to my readers. If you send me a friend request and I accept it. Then if you ever come to El Paso TX you can visit me and we can talk about my story and my future stories. You will not hurt my feelings if you give me advice on how to improve my writing. Please let me know what you think. I want to always be available to my readers. I hope you have enjoyed this story and I hope you will enjoy my future stories. I want to always be able to improve for my readers. Remember I am always going to be open to suggestions and advice from you,my readers. I promise to always be available for answers to your questions. I will answer as quickly as I am able to. I will also try to have better pictures for my next book cover. You ,the reader is more important to me than I am to myself. And if you want my next book to be about dogs or cats or both or some other animals let me know so I can research them so I will know how and what to write about it. So once again my email address is pamelalawson726@g*******m my f*******: is Pamela Lin Lawson So do not hesitate to email me or send me a friend request. And send me a message on messenger to let me know that you are one of my readers so I will accept your friend request. Thank you all so very much for reading my story. I am so happy to always hear from you, my reader. l hope to always be a reader of my books and that you will always let me know what you think of it. And give me suggestions of what you want to read. I hope this story is not too boring to you. I promise you that I will do better on my next book. So that they will always be interesting to my readers. I know that one day we might meet in person and you will know who I am when you see me. I don't want my readers to think that they can never come up to me and just say hi. I will always say hi back to you. And I will not turn my back on my readers.