MARION, IL (WSIL) -- Sometimes things in life are tough and you need someone to help you. So when a Marion woman found herself without a home for months, and all seemed hopeless, one woman stepped up to help her get back on her feet.
“I don't think we could have kept going much more,� said Rhonda Sturgeon.
A Marion woman finds help in local religious organizations after a health crisis.
As we go about our lives, we tend to do so with little appreciation of things we just assume we'll always have food, clothing, and shelter. But what happens when one, two, or all three of those are taken away?
“I pray every night,� Sturgeon said. “I pray and I thank God. And I'll say, ‘I don't want to be back in that situation, no more�.�
Rhonda Sturgeon spent 13 months living in her truck, moving around to different parking lots trying to sleep. And doing so in the heat and the cold, not knowing if, or when it would end.
“We piled on the blankets and my daughter would be back there sleeping and I'd be sitting crying because I didn't know how to get out of the mess I was in when there's no place really going help you,� Sturgeon said.
Sturgeon lived that comfortable life of taking things for granted. A home, all the foods she could eat, and clean clothes daily. But all that quickly came to an end after dealing with a health scare.
“I had it made before I ended up with cancer and then after I went through everything with it and trying to trust people to pay my bills,� she said.
And putting her trust in those people cost her dearly.
“My trust in most people is not there anymore,� Sturgeon explained.
To get by, Sturgeon has been a regular at places like the Ministerial Alliance in Marion. That's where she met the person she calls, her guardian angel.
“When I want to give up, she's like, ‘I'm not going to let you,’� said Sturgeon.
If you ask assistant director Tammy Dodd, she'd tell you she's nobody special. But to Sturgeon, Dodd has been one of the few people she can count on.
“It was hard for me to go home and lay down in my comfortable bed when I knew people were sleeping on the streets or weren't having their three meals a day. I just wanted to make people's lives better,� said Dodd.
Finally, after 13 months, Sturgeon found a place to live through the tireless work of her advocate.
“It's like we've got a chance now,� she said.
But that process isn’t ideal.
“Once you get evicted and you get that on your record, you're done,� Sturgeon explained. “It took a year and a month to finally find a place willing to work with us.�
That eviction made it difficult for Sturgeon to find a place to rent, regardless of her prior history.
“That eviction just stuck a red flag, and that's where Tammy comes in,� said Sturgeon. “She finally found somebody to rent to us.�
So what can be done to help more people in situations like Sturgeon? Dodd has some advice.
“Don't be afraid to jump in there, but at the same time, be prepared for what you're jumping into because it is going to be rough,� said Dodd. “It's not going to be easy.�
And as Sturgeon points out, there's not just an end-all solution. It takes the community to come together to help.
“I know there are better days ahead,� said an optimistic Sturgeon. “This has changed my whole outlook. The way that I've lived and gone through my days. Now's just something you don't wish on anybody.�
