Hard luck lands sisters in shelter

The Family Living Center provides nights of shelter to 9,000 people a year, most of them children.
MASSILLON (AP) -- Strength resonates in Dayna's voice and faith still glimmers when she holds her newborn baby close.
There aren't many constants anymore for the Massillon woman and her younger sister, Carrie. All Dayna knows for sure is that, no matter what, she has her sister and their children by her side.
Today, that is all Dayna really knows for sure.
"We don't have nowhere to go. No matter how much help we think we are getting, it seems to end up [a dead end]," Dayna said. "We can't get too far."
Dayna and her sister recently found themselves homeless and nearly penniless as circumstances piled up and forced them to seek help from a local homeless shelter.
They have spent nearly a month at the Family Living Center, and in that short period of time have seen their lives change dramatically as they search for a miracle -- a second chance at life through affordable housing and dependable careers.
Between them, Carrie and Dayna have seven children. Currently, neither can work since each has had a baby while staying at the homeless shelter -- Carrie on Dec. 18 and Dayna on Dec. 30.
Ray Fete, director of the Massillon site of the Family Living Center, said the situation is unique, not only because two sisters are at the center at the same time, but also because both have given birth while residents there.
"It's special and it's sad," Fete said. "It's sad to see a pregnant woman leave your shelter, go to the hospital to have a baby and come back to the shelter with the baby. We are just glad that we can be here to help."
Emotional rollercoaster
Emotions and hopes have risen and sunk over the last few weeks, Dayna says wearily. The joys of newborn babies, birthday parties and holiday celebrations have brought hope and smiles to her and Carrie. But the stresses of wondering everyday where to go and what to do next hits them hard.
"It was exciting, but at the same time both of us were pretty depressed," Dayna said. "Postpartum got to us because we were still in the shelter [after having babies]."
The way Dayna explains it, fate dealt a bad hand and the situation worsened as the circumstances continued to change. Before she could do anything about it, Dayna said, her entire world spun out of control.
"Basically, me and my sister let the wrong people in and it caused us to lose our housing," Dayna said. "Everybody messes up, but not everybody seems to get a second chance. That's what it feels like for me and my sister."
Whatever the circumstances, Fete said, many residents are looking for a way to get a leg up on life. Many seek help at the shelter.
"We are full almost constantly," Fete said. "We almost always have a waiting list as people are looking for a place to stay and we cannot accommodate them."
Fete said some tend to think there aren't many homeless individuals in western Stark County and the ones that are have brought the circumstances on themselves through laziness or failure to cope with addiction or disease. Nothing could be farther from the truth, Fete said.
"We need to dispel the myths of homelessness," Fete said. "One way people become homeless is through bad luck and both [Dayna and Carrie] are hard-luck stories. They just found themselves with children and nowhere to go."
Organizations that help
Across the area, organizations such as the Family Living Center are doing what they can to offer support and guidance when people find themselves homeless and hungry, housing coordinator Amy Roehlig said.
"I'm glad that we exist to help families in this situation because, honestly, I don't know where they would be," Roehlig said. "I am afraid to know where that would be. Because we are here for them, this is a very safe place to be."
Still, there is much that needs to be done for many others.
According to Fete, the Family Living Center provides nights of shelter to 9,000 people a year, most of them children. The Family Life Center, Fete pointed out, is just one organization.
"Maybe someone will come forward and offer [Dayne and Carrie] a place of some kind or help in some way," Fete said. "We are just unable to get the ball rolling for them."
Dayna contends that she and her sister are not asking for much. Just a second chance, she said. They just need a place -- a small home or apartment -- where they can go to piece their lives back to together and build a stable future their children. A chance like that could open doors of opportunity, Dayna said.
It would also give her just one night of peaceful sleep.
"[Carrie and I] have been really close, and I still feel like I am her mother even though I am only four years older than she is," Dayna said. "I would rather her be with me than anyone else."