“The most important thing, for anyone really, is to have grit. If you get knocked down, get back up. You get knocked down again, get back up.” - Angela R.
Grit- courage and determination despite difficulty - is at the core of our interview this month. While talking to Angela, she mentioned that when she learned about grit during a college course, she was immediately drawn to the idea. She learned that grit is essential for success no matter what social class someone comes from - and she herself exhibits it in everything she does.
Angela was encouraged to move to La Pine 12 years ago by a family member who was worried about her. She was living in Eugene and struggling with some addictions, and moving to La Pine could provide her with a fresh start. She lived with family for a while, then moved to camp in the woods. She first heard about Thrive through the La Pine Community Health Center, as she was hoping to get some assistance finding housing using a newly acquired Emergency Housing Voucher (EHV)- a program through HUD that distributed additional housing vouchers during the pandemic.
Angela worked with Thrive using our phone-based services, meeting with someone from our team frequently to search for and apply for housing. Eventually, she started working with Rachel they were able to locate a rental and she lived there for almost 2 years. In those two years, she didn’t reach out to Rachel much as she was busy working and living. When they originally worked together, Angela had expressed the desire to move to Bend for more opportunity- so a few times a year Rachel gave her a call to check in.
One of those times was this summer, right around the time her landlord gave her a notice to move. Her landlord needed some of their own family to move into the unit she rented, and they gave Angela 90 days to find a new place to live. Though she missed Rachel’s regular call, she called back a month later and let her know the situation.
Angela was grateful for Rachel’s nonjudgemental attitude- ready and happy to be working with her again on finding a new place. Angela described Thrive’s nonjudgemental attitude as one of the things she likes most about the organization. “Thrive has a very nonjudgemental way of working with people. You genuinely try to help people.”
Though it had been a while, Angela and Rachel checked in on affordable housing waitlists she had applied to a couple of years ago - and to her surprise, she was close to the top of one of the lists! Today Angela is in her new apartment in Bend, and she is excited to be in a new rental with modern amenities and living in Bend where there are more employment and transportation opportunities.
Angela likes to hike, camp, and listen to music, and is excited to get settled so that she can give back to the community. Right now she’s looking for a new job, as she had to leave her job in La Pine when she moved. On the day of our interview, she had just found out that she wasn’t hired for a job she had applied to because of a criminal charge on her record from 20 years ago. She made the point that she wanted to include that in this story because she is choosing to let it go and move on with energy to the next application - because she’s got grit 💪.
Her words of advice to others echo her tenacity: “If someone wants to help you, like Thrive or any agency, sometimes you have to let go of your pride. Then, when you’re able to help other people in the future, you can go ahead and pass that on. Just never give up, sometimes bad things happen or bad decisions are made in our lives and we can turn it around.”
Finally, her favorite quote that inspires her when she’s working is from author Zig Ziglar,
“You can have everything in life you want if you will just help enough other people get what they want.”
Thank you Angela, for sharing your story with us!
**If you or anyone you know is hiring in hospitality or customer service, retail or general labor in Bend Angela would love the opportunity to work for you! Please reach out to her directly at AngReed31@gmail.com
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