Natasha Medlar presents the third of our TRUTH Series; the focus of the third segment being discussing Homelessness. In this segment we will hear from 4 inspiring, positive and brave diverse men and women who will each share their own personal stories on living with Homelessness. I pray this segment educates many whom come across it and that it also helps give strength to those facing the same or a similar obstacle at present.
“My intentions for all various segments of the TRUTH series is to educate others who may not be aware of such issues, whether it’s because it has never been a challenge they themselves have faced, to educate those whom are aware but choose to ignore the issue/s and lastly to help encourage others in being brave in speaking out. As we know, knowledge is key.” – Natasha
I would like to introduce you to Javonte Watson. Javonte was born and raised in Flint, Michigan is a 26-year-old Spiritual Healer and Professional Dancer. Although having endured so much trauma throughout his life thus far, Javonte prides himself on being a representation of peace, love, equality to humanity as well as aims to motivate and inspire others through his words and story. Today Javonte shares with us how he overcame homelessness on four separate occasions. His story depicts bravery, determination, patience and indeed is an inspiring story. Below is Javonte’s visual where he shares with us his story and further below are brief summaries of all four separate occasions where he found himself homeless.
Flint MI – 1st time being Homeless
15 years old not really understanding myself -being misguided, filling a space in my heart or mind with a relationship that was wasting energy, that wouldn’t change anything for me including my actions. I was very young and still needed to grow but I always knew there was something different about me. At a time in my life as a teenager I didn’t want any help and I felt I was surrounded by chaos. As a Libra my empathy was strong but I didn’t even educate myself on who I was.
After my senior year I was staying at home- going to school turned into sleep time/playtime and nights turned into partying. Drinking didn’t help, it only heightened the depression and anxiety, which lead me into sleeping in abandoned buildings. I wasn’t planning on coming home any time soon and as I was sleeping in abandoned buildings while having no food, I knew I needed change, but that no one could help me besides me. I was lucky enough to have been reached out to by my granny who in turn bought me a ticket to Savannah GA where I moved in with my aunt and uncle on Army Base
Savannah GA – 2nd time being Homeless
I was 18 years old, jumping out of my comfort zone – living in a new state, new job, first apartment, first time being away from family
Having the chance to listen to my inner self by following my intuition, everything was a pattern until the pattern started becoming boring. Waking up paying bills, going to work, cooking for myself, chilling with my best friend/soul sister Kei. I had so many bad patterns being young, that it came back to haunt me. I fell into the traps easily as I still had a kid mindset. This affected me even more during this time because I started drinking again. At the same time, I was helping out my co-workers that happened to be sleeping in their car; I gave up my living room for them. My heart has always been the same, pure & innocent to living all forms of energy
These co-workers then introduced me to Triple C pills – I started getting addicted to taking multiple pills a day. One time I took 13 pills, these didn’t kick in until 3 hours later – I had smoked weed as well which is cross fading. My empathy, my energy swirled my conscious mind to another dimension I wasn’t aware of, my demons came out to play, I was surrounded by more demons
Prior to this I didn’t know about cleansing n saging, so I carried other people’s energy as my own – that of course is a big no no. Eventually I was drained out, I didn’t have energy to move, to speak, I didn’t even have energy to get out of bed. I slowly spiralled in my head once again to a dark place
My best friend Kei checked on me noticing my absence & she knew something was different. I eventually made young dumb choices of leaving my apartment and being homeless, jumping from home to home to keep my job. At the same time, I started realizing sales is not a lifetime career, so I stopped showing up to work. With no money, no home, no love, it was time to move back home and regroup
I got to be around a lot of loved ones that left a finger print on me, which really helped me heal during this process. My best friend Kei did the most for me – she helped me with my apartment, she gave me her living room so I could keep my job, she bought me my first pair of skates & loved me like the sister I always wanted
I was then blessed again and lucky at the same time that my grandmother came through for me once again and went half with me on my ticket back home
As soon as I got home to MI I was waiting for those first couple of pay checks to come through, just so I could relocate again, which landed me in Las Vegas
Las Vegas NV – 3rd time being Homeless
I had been living in Muskegon MI when my aunt who was like a mom to me, passed away. I usually run away from my emotions and pain, so Vegas was my choice of destination in the line of starting over. I had found a room to rent but as soon as the first two months’ rent was up, it was time for the boot
I walked all around Vegas meeting people until l I met a girl who let me crash in her room everyday as she went to school. Sometimes she would even sneak me in, we are still cool til this very day
Freemont Strip at that moment changed my life – I danced with another guy called Jtruth, we performed together with a school band. We happened to both be homeless at this point, yet without even knowing each other, once we both heard music on the strip the universe connected us. The two of us made $4000 together with the band which I found mind blowing. As time went on he invited me into his home, he was definetly a brother of mine
As time further progressed even though he had a little one on the way, I still had a secure place in his home. Yet as soon as I went back home to visit, I came back to his home having learnt he had moved on
This in turn led me to being homeless again dancing for money, which led me falling back into a spiral of drinking again. Those nights haunt me every time – I remember it being super cold, how I would sleep on the ground around apartments, having walked for hours, miles and miles till my feet couldn’t walk any further. I then ended up sleeping in a few shelters, til I woke up and decided my life matters, and started focusing on dancing again
I met a new group of brothers; Carron, Tempo and Marcus. They helped me to get back on my feet, helped me in securing a a Siegel Suite and a 9-5 job
Shortly after I met one of my twin flames in life, she changed the whole game for me which included me attending meditation everyday
I then met my daughter’s mom and as magic happened for the first time, where I felt that the universe had pulled us together, my life also crashed right before my eyes. I catered my whole life to her; eventually we both spiralled down with so much drinking of alcohol that we ended up going homeless together and having to move to Logan Utah to stay with her mom. The way in which we got enough funds aside in order to make the move to Utah, was by me dancing for money on the street saving every penny
During the first week of having relocated to Logan Utah, I landed a job at Pacsun as an Assistant Manager. As time went by my daughter’s mother and I were invited to California by her father; for me that was the start of a blessing and gateway key in moving to Cali
Riverside CA – 4th time being Homeless
At this time I had bought my first car and was staying with my father in law. After a situation my daughter’s mom and I decided to move out and live in my car
I had used up my resources, we were hitting the mountain every day – we slept at parks, mobile home car parks. Whenever we had driven to LA we slept in our car on the side of the road. (The best place to sleep though hands down was always where Mother Nature was, especially in green grass, taking a sun bath in the mornings oh lord)
We signed up for EBT – that was the resource for food. We took wash ups in sinks at parks in order to stay clean. When we washed our clothes, we sold stamps and used that money to turn into quarters, in order to use the “wash and dry” services
I moved out my city to Anaheim, working at Farm Fresh while being paid $13.00 an hour which in turn helped me in saving for a weekly in California
Dancing was always a release of negative energy & toxic chemical cells I carried, that enabled me to turn my life into a 360. Being active is another great way to push yourself; after that my world started to look up
“My story is to inspire you to jump out of your comfort zone and to remind you that if you are homeless, to recognize that there will be ups & downs. The way I got through it was by not giving up and to keep pushing even at your lowest point. At the end of the day… REMEMBER YOU ARE YOUR OWN GURU, you must trust in yourself, trust in the process of loving & caring for yourself & choosing yourself first. You will always win, just as a caterpillar we all evolve into a butterfly but we can’t miss out on the process by staying in our comfort zone” – Javonte Watson