Anna Wilson: The Believer

Long brown hair frames Anna Wilson’s face as she flashes a bright smile directed toward the teenagers surrounding her. Life Church parishioners mill around the youth group room. The low chatter of mingling conversation hums, barely audible above the upbeat church songs that play in the background.

Wilson converses with her self-proclaimed “faith family” about struggles that had strengthened their relationship with their God. Although her belief is solidified now, there was a time where her faith was put to the test.

In eighth grade her mom had a stroke that affected her motor, speech and memory abilities. Because of that, she had a hard time holding a job and Wilson’s step-father became the main source of income for the family of four.

He held a laboring construction job and was often in physical pain, but he continued working. Despite the stressors of his career, he provided for his family until Jan. 5th 2012, when he died of a heart attack.

It was a typical day. After being dropped off at the bus stop, Wilson told her step-dad she loved him, and she would talk to him later.

She didn’t know that would be the last time she would see him.

With her step-dad gone and her family grief-stricken, 15-year-old Wilson was left to care for her mother and sister.

“It was really hard,” Wilson said. “I think the hardest thing was seeing my mom come crashing down, and my little sister, too. She was just running away from home all the time, my mom was just an absolute mess and I felt like I had to be the parent, I had to be the strong one.”

Wilson did her best to hold her family together, but because of her mom’s disability the bills quickly piled up. By Sept. 2013, most of their belongings were moved to a storage unit and she, her sister and her mother moved into the Hope House, a local shelter for the homeless run by Love In Action.

“There are so many worse places in the world,” Wilson said of the Hope House. “We were very, very blessed to have the situation.”

Although she acknowledges the positives of the shelter, she also says there were many hardships brought with it, usually involving school.

“[In the Hope House] we weren’t allowed to have electronics after 9, so they would take our cell phones and laptops,” Wilson said. “So, if I had a paper due, because I was trying to take AP Lang at the time, it wasn’t going to happen.”

Not only did she struggle to finish her school work, but because her mom’s vehicle was repossessed, she had no transportation to the high school

“When you’re 15 or 16, which was my age, you’re learning how to drive and stuff but I was just trying to make sure I could get to school because my mom didn’t have a car anymore,” Wilson said. “I actually wasn’t able to actually make it to school a lot, and a couple of my teacher started stepping up.”

Wilson recounts different high school educators providing aid to her, including John Mauro who drove her to school for a short time before helping her arrange different rides with more flexibility.

Teachers weren’t the only people that aided and befriended her, however. According to Wilson, she made many connections during her six months at the Hope House.

“There was this one worker, her name was Jessica and she was probably like in her mid-twenties,” Wilson said. “Whenever I was stressed out about school or I had boy problems or anything, her and I would sit together on Saturday morning and just talk for hours.”

She also found friendship with a girl named Hope, who struggled with addiction. Wilson says that Hope had “the biggest heart” and would often listen to her rehearsing for chorale ensemble.

“I would go downstairs and shut myself in the bathroom [to practice],” Wilson said. “I’d come out and all the ladies would be in the basement sitting outside the door so they could hear me sing and [Hope] would always be there, in tears.”

Despite having unexpected companions in the shelter, like many teens facing homelessness, Wilson’s school social life struggled to survive.

“I just got so frustrated looking around hearing people complain about their boy problems, and their friend problems. and not getting the perfect dress for prom,” Wilson said. “They’re just these materialistic things. I started to feel really angry and I didn’t really want to connect with anyone and I shut everyone out.”

Wilson says that even though she knew her situation was not her fault, she was still ashamed of it, which caused emotional problems. Her mindset has since changed, however. She now speaks of her experience as enlightening, rather than disheartening.

“I don’t regret it,” Wilson said. “I mean, it’s been hard, but at the same time I’m so very grateful that I have had the perspective that I have.”

Wilson plans to take that perspective and become a social worker after she’s graduated college, which she will be attending in the fall. She credits much of her success to her faith in God.

“I’ve always been pretty deeply rooted in my faith,” Wilson said. “God has been my rock definitely. I’ve always felt like no matter how hard things are there will always be something better, something to look forward to.”