We are extremely grateful to Jeramick for sharing his story of the support he received from our Community Stabilization Services team!
I’d like to share my heartfelt gratitude to the Jewish community for your generous and compassionate support during my time of need.
I was born and raised in Seattle and have always considered it home. I have been both educated and employed through the arts pretty much my entire life.
A few years ago, I returned to Seattle after being gone for eight years. The city had changed drastically. I was struggling with neck and spinal injuries from a car accident and work incident, leaving me in constant pain. As I sought medical attention and support, I found that both friends and family were all suffering from challenges that made it difficult for them to help themselves, let alone help me.
I ended up in one unhealthy place after another. From relationships and living situations of convenience to eventually facing homelessness. Through faith and sheer force of will, I would not give up. I was able to move into a tiny home village in Skyway and eventually get a job with the nonprofit who ran the village. I still faced several challenges, but I did so with the help and support of generous people in the community. Not long after that, I was able to get a place of my own surrounded by other artists and with what I thought was a secure position that would eventually become permanent.
Fast-forward two years: I was forced to step down from my position and focus on finding social security support to get the necessary care for my declining health condition. This was heartbreaking, demoralizing, and posed a challenge to my sense of self and my faith. It’s one thing to know in your mind what you can do, it’s another thing when your body simply won’t allow you to do those things that could improve your day-to-day life.
A few months ago, I faced eviction for not being able to pay rent (just after being approved for social security benefits). The rental assistance program I was referred to explained that they were underfunded and could only offer me a spot on their waiting list. In that moment it seemed like the whole world stopped. Can you imagine my level of anxiety, pain, and the sleepless nights of not knowing whether all of my efforts would still end with me on the cold streets of the city I’ve loved my whole life?
Giving up still wasn’t an option, so I hopped on the phone and internet, called friends and neighbors, and throughout every day and night prayed like there was no tomorrow. In my darkest hour, I got a referral that brought me to V and the folks of Jewish Family Service. With those eviction papers resting ominously upon my desk, a person with a kind voice answered my call and listened to my story.
After all the disappointments—from phone calls that went nowhere and organizations that were overrun with requests for assistance, had run out of resources, or weren’t accepting new applicants — V heard me. They saw my humanity and felt the despair and pain in my voice and stepped up.
A person’s struggle is both complex and nuanced. In many cases, struggles like these are invisible to people who have never had to face such trauma. I write this letter because I’m not invisible and I am not without value. My gratitude is off the charts for V, the JFS staff, and folks with a little bit more than they need to be comfortable and the opportunity to touch the life of another in a way that brings hope—people with real hearts.
Today, I’m still a resident of my community and doing all that I can to find and create work in my chosen professions: the arts, education, science, and the humanities.
I’d just like to say to anyone who is out in this cold, unforgiving world, don’t lose hope. Don’t stop calling. Don’t stop reaching out, because there are open hands out there to receive you. People are out there who will see you and not judge you for what you’ve been through.
And for anyone who has a desire to embrace the principles, courage, and never-ending compassion needed to stand in the small gaps between those who rise and those who fall, I say to you: go ahead and be brave for somebody else. Because if you don’t, who will?
I’d like to thank all the folks who stood up for me when my back hurt too much for me to stand up for myself.
With my warmest regards and deepest gratitude, keep up the great, hard and heartfelt work.
Jeramick
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