'Sheltered by Hope'

Mary May’s life journey and story is not only about being twice homeless, it is also about understanding and confronting the epidemic of homelessness in this country.

Born in Virginia, raised in New York, educated in Washington and employed by General Dynamics in California, she had a good life.  That was until 1989 when her husband left her on the front steps of a mental health clinic in Pacific Beach, California

“I found his needles; he used drugs,” she began, “and then he moved out, but not before he threw me out of the apartment and left me at a clinic. I had no place to go.”

May survived for about a year by collecting cans out of garbage containers to recycle, and by sleeping in a park or an alley near where she foraged.

“I prayed that if I ever got off the streets I would pay back by helping others who are homeless,” she said. 

By the end of 1989, and with some financial help from a sibling, she moved into an apartment.  Shortly thereafter, she volunteered to serve meals at a nearby church.

Gaining experience and confidence, May started Harvest for The Hungry in 1993 with the specific goal of feeding the homeless.  It soon grew into a network of outreach programs to include nutrition and health care.

For May, however, the fear of homelessness had not left her.  By 2006, she was again living on the streets of Pacific Beach.

“My mother had passed; I ran out of money; I had a mental breakdown and no support,” she related.  “There were no agencies to help me — I had no hope.”

In 2007 her sibling offered May help by giving her a one-way bus ticket to live near him in Shelton.  Once settled, she was diagnosed with schizoaffective disorder and began the climb back to living a housed and normal life.

“But I felt that I needed to pay God back; I never gave up on the hope of doing this,” explained May, “and that is where I came up with the idea of writing, “Sheltered by Hope.”

The 240-page book chronicles the combination of institutional and family help, faith in God and determination that she currently brings to her community in helping the homeless.

“I advocate for homeless here in Shelton, and I promote the book,” she concluded.  “I want people to have empathy for the homeless, that it is a trauma, and that it is hard to get off the streets,” she concluded. “Homelessness can happen to anyone.”