Meet Hasani: Sacramento Team Member
Hasani is curious, and energetic, and truly one of a kind. She has been around in the Downtown Streets Team community for many years, but until this winter, despite being a regular at our Weekly Success Meetings, she had never stayed on the Team for more than a few weeks.
Hasani has been homeless on and off for many years. She battles an opioid addiction, and for the past three years she has maintained her sobriety by visiting her medical recovery clinic daily and having weekly appointments with her rehabilitation counselor. In January, Hasani's partner of 15 years passed away from COPD, and Hasani was devastated. She was leveled with emotional pain, and she felt like she had nowhere to turn, so she came to the one place she knew she could always return to– a Downtown Streets Team Weekly Success Meeting.
When Hasani showed up that afternoon, her DST family showered her with love. Our Case Manager, Vernon, was able to write her a referral and get her immediately placed in the Meadowview Navigation Center in South Sacramento where Hasani joined Downtown Streets Team's only all-female DST crew. Her case managers at the shelter looked her up in the Homeless Management Information System and saw that she had applied almost two years prior to a waitlist at a Permanent Supportive Housing building in Midtown. Hasani followed up with the manager at the PSH and, lo and behold, her name had just come up for a studio apartment. Just three weeks after her referral to the shelter, and just about a month after her life partner passed away, Hasani moved into her very own apartment.
With the help of her Streets Team family, her case managers at the shelter, and the counselors at her rehabilitation clinic, Hasani was able to maintain her sobriety through all of this turbulence and hardship. We could tell you we are proud of Hasani, but that wouldn't begin to cover it. She is a warrior.
Hasani's story is an unusual one that is full of serendipitous circumstances. You see, oftentimes when people experiencing homelessness put their names on a housing list like this, by the time their name comes up, they have changed phone numbers or moved cities; it really can be nearly impossible to find someone who is living outside. Hasani has experienced unspeakable tragedy in her life, but she has made sure that she has stayed tapped in to her community resources. She kept showing up, even when she felt like it was nearly impossible.
