The Path Home

To help destigmatize poverty and housing insecurity, Heading Home of South Central Indiana hosted The Path Home, an event dedicated to sharing stories of people who have struggled to find housing.

Aja Jester and Peggy Reed shared their experiences of housing insecurity and the impact that stable housing has had on their lives. The Nov. 14 event was held at Upland Brewing’s Wood Shop.

Peggy shared parts of her personal journey, including things that she wished people understood about the process of finding a home. She now lives in an apartment with her chihuahua Sassy.

While moving into an apartment was a huge relief for Peggy after experiencing homelessness, it came with challenges. Peggy had not lived alone for many years, so it was an adjustment for her at first.

When asked how stable housing has changed her life, Peggy said that many freedoms come with having your own place.

“You don’t have the stress,” she said. “You can cook whenever you want, eat whenever you want, take showers. You can have people (visit) or you don’t have to have people.”

She enjoys taking Sassy along with her as she bicycles around Bloomington.

Aja Jester also talked about her experiences obtaining housing for her and her children. The family moved to Bloomington from northern Indiana sight unseen, because it was the first place they were accepted for a Housing Choice Voucher.

Now Aja has been in Bloomington for 10 years. She discussed obstacles she encountered to find housing using a voucher, also known as Section 8.

One of the most important things for Aja when looking for housing was to ensure stability for her children in school. After living in several different locations, Aja finally felt that they are developing a sense of normalcy.

Aja emphasized the importance of not judging people with Housing Choice Vouchers.

“I think that the stereotypes that go along with a Housing Choice Voucher make a lot of landlords not choose to accept a voucher, which is really problematic,” Aja said.

“I think that the stereotypes that go along with a Housing Choice Voucher make a lot of landlords not choose to accept a voucher, which is really problematic.”

-Aja Jester

In addition to hearing from Aja and Peggy, Heading Home interns Shay Berry and Lizzie Wright shared ways to become more educated and involved in the field of housing security.

Lizzie shared her experience reading “Poverty by America” by Matthew Desmond. She described how this book allowed her to become more educated on the complicated issues that arise with poverty and homelessness.

Shay then shared her experience volunteering with Beacon’s Shalom Center for the 2022-23 school year. This allowed Shay to better understand the work she was doing with her internship at Heading Home.

The event was held in collaboration with Indiana University’s Kelley Institute of Social Impact (KISI). Heading Home was the community partner for the 2023 KISI Impact Case Competition.

The winning team for the case competition was TM Consulting. Their proposal included hosting events during Hunger and Homelessness Awareness Week.

Members of TM Consulting are IU undergraduates Teja Basireddy, Mahima Duvvur, Madeline Kosc and Muntasir Munaf.

Click here to watch a video of The Path Home on Bloomington’s Community Access Television Service (CATS).