The kids at my new school were very friendly. I’ve never had trouble making friends anyway, so I made new friends really quickly. The school is in an area of big homes with the shelter around the corner. So I knew my friends lived in really nice homes. When they asked to come over to my house after school, I told them I would have to ask my mom. The next day I would tell them my mom was busy and said maybe another day would be better.

I would stay after school until 6 pm. I would sit at the bottom of a hill on the school grounds until every kid was gone. Then I walked home to the shelter. I never let one kid know where I lived. I was embarrassed.

Miss Pat helped me adjust to life at the shelter. I’m really glad I listened to her because we’re still here — ten months later. I haven’t given up hope that we will move to our own home again soon, but I can now say my life here is okay. We have pizza parties and movie nights. We get to go on field-trips to the aquarium, museums, and parks. Miss Pat makes sure we have fun.

She has taught us about respecting ourselves. We have to dress properly, come downstairs with our hair fixed, and respect our elders. If the older residents are rude to us, we’re taught to be polite anyway and not make their problems our problem.

Every night we eat dinner with our own families, but Fridays we dress up and have a special dinner together. Our clothes are donated so everyone looks real nice. — Beliefnet.com