Meet today’s shero, Yvette Mason. Yvette is 52-years-old and originally from Peoria, Illinois. She’s dedicated the past 15 years to working at Nicholas House, a non-profit that serves homeless families. Yvette has served in many roles since her first day at Nicholas House back in 2006. In 2015, Yvette advocated to expand the agency’s definition of family to include same-sex couples, non-married, or couples who don’t have a child in common. This advocacy resulted in the agency expanding their definition of family to include all compositions and make-ups, which in turn created more inclusive access to the shelter and its services.
Nicholas House operates within a Housing First approach, which prioritizes permanent housing as the greatest, and most basic and urgent need. In this approach, once homeless families have a sustained roof over their head, they then have the needed stability to access additional services. These holistic wrap-around services, such as access to a livable wage job, academic credits, mental health support, and safety from domestic violence, are part of Nicholas House’s commitment to its clients.
In her current role as a Case and Program Manager, Yvette wears many hats. She oversees a 46-bed facility, where the main goal is to support the families in getting back on their feet so they can maintain housing once they exit the Nicholas House program. She supports homeless families on their journey to self-sufficiency, which has a unique meaning for each family. For instance, Yvette works with families who may be experiencing mental illness, loss of employment, or housing. Additionally, during her tenure with Nicholas House she has seen an increase in families fleeing domestic violence, arriving to meet Yvette empty-handed except for their children. Providing this refuge from domestic violence is especially pertinent during this time of COVID-19.
Yvette’s motivation to serve the families at Nicholas House comes from her personal story: “When I was in college, my sister was murdered due to domestic violence. She had three children. Once that happened – I was going to school in Michigan on a basketball scholarship – I left school and went back to Illinois to help my then five other siblings and take on the responsibility of helping care for three children.” Even through their tragic loss, Yvette’s parents supported her: “I went back to school and graduated from Central Michigan University. That was the promise that my parents made me: that they didn’t want me to be in Illinois and not finish my education. That was a big thing for them and I received my degree.”
Yvette’s sister’s murder isn’t her only driving force. One of the nephews her sister left behind inspires her work as well: “Unfortunately, my nephew, the middle child, was murdered due to gun violence nine years after my sister was killed.” How does Yvette cope with such devastating grief and tragedy? “It’s been a journey. We’ve experienced a lot of loss but we’re a very close-knit family so that helps a lot.”
These personal experiences of loss shape her work: “I saw the effect it had on the children who were witnesses to domestic violence. My first job was for parenting and teen moms that were wards of the state, then I worked in foster care, sat on a lot of committees, and worked with at-risk youth.” She notes one job in particular: “It was called the Chicago Project and this was back in the 80s when crack cocaine was big and these moms were having addicted children, so they were separating children from their parents from birth and they didn’t know what the effect would be five years down the line. They started this program in Peoria and all the children were from Chicago, and we were the liaison between the foster system and the families. So we would have to travel two hours to Chicago every day for court, for reunification, or to terminate families from seeing each other.”
It wasn’t until Yvette moved to Atlanta that she started working with families living with homelessness: “With Nicholas House, it not only helped me to continue to do the work, but to see the work a little differently because now you’re dealing with people who have lost their homes and are living in the street or in their cars. So that really pushed me to be an advocate for those who don’t have a voice. It pushes me to keep going.” She describes the work with passion: “It’s emotionally and physically draining but you see people grow and have hope again. That’s what keeps me going on the frustrating days. Not everybody makes it. I have learned – and it took me a long time – that you can’t save everybody. That’s what really keeps me going, whether it’s Nicholas House or anywhere else, is to be able to give people hope again.”
“…always understand that this is just a small portion of your life and the challenges may seem great now, but there’s so much more, and you can come up out of this situation if you give it a chance.”
When asked about the most challenging part of her job, Yvette remains focused on hope: “I think that’s the hardest part, just being able to get through to the families to not lose hope – that it’s gonna get better. To always understand that this is just a small portion of your life and the challenges may seem great now, but there’s so much more, and you can come up out of this situation if you give it a chance.” Yvette goes on: “The hardest ages are the teenagers and middle schoolers; unfortunately, in this society, sometimes people aren’t very accepting of their situation. It’s harder for them to see what’s going on beyond this present time because they want to spend time with their friends.” Yvette’s messages of hope and perspective have a sagely and especially poignant feel during the daily adjustments demanded during COVID-19.
“We go through what we go through and the world keeps going, it doesn’t stop for us to catch up. I have my days where I feel vulnerable but I just feel like that’s my duty. It’s just part of the job. It’s my passion and it’s just what I do.”
Despite social distancing being a challenge in her line of work, Yvette is steadfast in her desire to serve the families who show up at her door. Additionally, not working is quite simply not an option: “I need the money. Bills don’t stop. We go through what we go through and the world keeps going, it doesn’t stop for us to catch up. I have my days where I feel vulnerable but I just feel like that’s my duty. It’s just part of the job. It’s my passion and it’s just what I do.” She ruminates on the alternative: “If I wasn’t there, where would the families be? What would happen to them? Would they get the services they need?” While those continuing to serve on the front lines in the midst of this global pandemic do it because they care, because they have to put food on the table, and because it is their calling, their families are left to worry. “My wife is fearful at times when I go to work. She works from home and I am sure during this time, she wishes I had that option. I tell her that we take precautions and have safety measures in place to keep the employees and the families safe. I’m a firm believer that everything happens for a reason.”
“If I wasn’t there, where would the families be? What would happen to them? Would they get the services they need?
Despite the personal risk, Yvette tirelessly advocates for Nicholas House to do what is needed during coronavirus: “We’re one of the few places that are still doing intake of new clients right now. My supervisor and I discussed continuing to do intake with families and he gave me the option to stop all intakes if I felt I was at risk. I continue to do intakes, because there are still families in the street. And now we’re full and at capacity. Homelessness doesn’t just end during this time.”
Of all the hardships Yvette and her colleagues face, she discusses the most challenging aspects: “Shelter-in-place both professionally and personally.” While everyone faces uncertainty, it’s heightened for her and the families she serves. “Just not really knowing how long it’s gonna last and what effect it’s gonna have on agencies like ours – like shelters. What’s going to be the protocol moving forward? I don’t think things are really going to be ‘normal’ because I really do think after this, the world is gonna look a whole lot different.” Like most of us, the unknowns of the pandemic leave more questions than answers. “I think that’s the scariest part on both ends, is not knowing what’s going to happen and what things are going to look like. It’s a scary time not knowing what we need to do as a shelter.”
Through the anxiety and angst, Yvette shares what she wants the world to know about her work and the families she serves: “We’re important. Even before coronavirus, nobody really talked about homelessness unless it affected them or somebody they knew. The view that some people have when you say ‘homeless’, ‘homelessness’, or ‘homeless people’ – they don’t think of the people that I look at every day. They think of the guy at the corner of the street with a sign, they think that they’re on drugs or they have mental health issues, and they don’t think about the fact that any one of us could become homeless.” She debunks the misconceptions surrounding homelessness by addressing the root causes. “All we need is one event in our life that causes a snowball effect – that’s why 90% of our families have become homeless. They lost their job and they got evicted. Or they don’t have childcare services. Or they had a sick child and they had to take off work to care for them, and some employers may or may not allow them to take off work and don’t have health benefits. What are you gonna do? Are you gonna leave your child alone or go to work?”
“The view that some people have when you say ‘homeless’, ‘homelessness’, or ‘homeless people’ – they don’t think of the people that I look at every day.”
With so many priorities competing for our attention, Yvette makes just one request: “During this time, think about those people that were vulnerable before this event happened. It needs to be more of a push to put the homeless population at the forefront not just during coronavirus but always.” Her solutions for supporting families to never face homelessness in the first place? “Have more affordable housing and raise the hourly wage. I have moms that have children and they can’t live off of $7.50 or even $10.00 an hour. It’s a lot more serious than I think people understand.”
Yvette, as full of hope as ever, shares her goals for the future: “When all this social services work is over, my dream is to have a food truck.”
Inspired by sheros like Yvette, serving on the front lines during the coronavirus? Show your support by making a donation to Nicholas House today: https://nicholashouse.org/get-involved/donate/
