Andrea’s Story
My name is Andrea. I am a 36 year old mother of a beautiful seven year old boy. I currently live at the Mission Shelter in Floral City,Florida and am thankful for every day that I am given here. I am a recent college graduate with a BS degree in Biology, and minors in Chemistry, and Criminalistics. I served my country in the Army for three years as a pharmacy specialist, and was injured during a routine training drill. I was discharged honorably with a medical discharge, and am currently 40% disabled.
I have been married to an emotionally and physically abusive husband for 9 years. Recently, I told him that I was done taking the abuse and he told me to leave the house. He is bigger and louder than I am, and I did not want our son to see any further arguments or fighting, so I told him that I would be out in three days. I had no idea where I would go, and had no money to do anything with. I stayed in the guest room while he continued to make my living environment as hostile as he could. I left on the third day, with the intention of selling one of my personal items so that I would have the $50 required to open a new bank account for my VA disability check to go into.
My other considerations were whether or not I should go to a rest area off of the Interstate and sleep in my van or use the Wal-Mart parking lot. I was scared, alone, and felt lost as far as what I should do. I went to Cadence bank to open my account, and as I was waiting to be seen, I glanced onto the coffee table, and found a pamphlet for the Mission of Citrus County. I proceeded to read the contents of the pamphlet, and made a decision that I would call them as soon as I had opened my account at the bank. Leaving the bank, with the intention of making the call to a homeless shelter for housing, the fear welled up in my gut, and tears began to run down my cheeks.
I never would have thought that I would ever be homeless. With no other option left, I made the call, and they asked me to come in and fill out some paperwork. They told me that I could stay there in Crystal River. When I arrived at the shelter I was very scared. The individuals who greeted me were very comforting and made me feel more at ease. I have grown to love the people who live in these homes, and am impressed with the stamina that many of them have shown, and the many journeys that each of them have made. In each person’s life story, evidence of God’s providence and love is manifested in the provision and deliverance from homelessness and hunger.
The Mission at Citrus saved my life in more ways than just providing a safe place to live and food to eat, they have provided many of the resources that I needed to get back on my feet, back into the workforce, and into a place of my own. I see a bright future ahead for myself and my son, and I honestly believe that it would not have been possible without The Missions help. I will be forever grateful.
Marilyn Schoefer US Navy
My name is Marilyn Schoefer and I am the oldest out of three siblings. I was born into the military. My dad served twenty years in the Marine Corps. During that time, I would make friends when we got to a new duty station and then have to move again after only being in one place for no more than three years. I also got to spend three years overseas in Japan from April 1986 to March 1989. I graduated high school in Jacksonville North Carolina with Honors in June 1992. I then went on to Coastal Carolina Community College in the fall of 1992. I was going to major in Business Computer Programming. I couldn’t continue with college because I didn’t have the money to keep going. So I did the next best thing and decided to go into the Air Force. I was all set to leave for the Air Force in July of 1993. But on Mother’s Day 1993 my mother was tragically murdered and taken out of my life. I was 19 at the time. Between the time that my mom was killed and I was supposed to go into the Air Force, I got pregnant with my oldest daughter. Her father didn’t want to have anything to do with me while I was pregnant with her so I moved down here to Florida with my dad and brother. My daughter was born in February 1994. After trying to find a job and raise my daughter on my own with no help from her father, I decided to try and go into the Air Force again. I talked to an Air Force recruiter in January 1997. I had already given my dad plenary guardianship of my daughter so that I could go into the military. Well, the Air Force took eight months to tell me that I couldn’t go in because I was going in as a single parent. So the Air Force recruiter handed my file over the Navy recruiter and I was enlisted in the Navy in less than a week. I went to boot camp from September 1997 to November 1997 in Great Lakes IL. After I graduated from Boot Camp, I went to indoc for the school that I was going to do in the navy and met my current husband. We got married the end of February 1998 after I found out that I was pregnant with my son. I then had changed “A” schools from TechCore to Hospitalman (HM) “A” School where I was the first pregnant student to make it through the complete school. I graduated from HM “A” school when I was eight months pregnant. I then got stationed at the Naval Hospital Great Lakes satellite clinic USS Tranquility over at the Recruit Training Command (RTC). My son was born in October 1998 and he was a healthy boy. Then in December 1998, my two month old son spiked a really high fever for no reason. I took him the emergency room at the Naval Hospital and they performed a spinal tap on him. Then in May 1999, I had to a cone biopsy done because I had the start of cervical cancer and I almost bled to death with my son in the room with me when I went to the ER for passing the blood clot. My son then came down with Scarletina, Strep Throat, and another high fever when he was nine months old in July 1999. During all this time I was having a hard time dealing with my mom’s death and I started going off on the people that I worked with. My Leading Petty Officer sent me in to talk to a mental health doctor to see what was going on. I went in for the appointment only to be diagnosed with a personality disorder. I was put on medication to try and treat my condition. I got honorably discharged from the Navy in May 2000 after serving my country just less than three years. I then moved all of my household belongings, myself, my toddler son, a car, and a dog out to Bremerton, Washington where my husband was stationed on the USS Carl Vinson. I met a wonderful lady by the name of Erica and we became quick friends and are still best friends to this day. Since I have gotten out, I have applied for my VA Disability Benefits twice and have gotten turned down because I was told that what I was claiming was wrong with me was not in my medical records when I knew otherwise. In 2005, my husband admitted to sexually molesting a minor child and went to jail for it in November 2005. I had become a single parent since then raising my son by myself with help friends and family. In the summer of 2006, I was reunited with my daughter for two weeks. I then felt complete at that time because I had both of my kids with me for a short time. In January 2008, I became homeless with my son. I had to lose everything that I had. If it wasn’t for me reconnecting with my sister in December 2007, I would have ended up on the streets with my son. Her and husband bought plane tickets for both me and my son to fly out to Jacksonville, North Carolina where we stayed with them until November 2008. During that time, I got a job working at Rite Aid Pharmacies as a store associate and then later becoming a shift supervisor. I worked for Rite Aid just over three years from May 2008 to August 2011. In August 2009, I moved from North Carolina up to Virginia Beach, VA where my best friend and her family were stationed and stayed with her until February 2011. At that time, my son and I were staying in hotel after hotel. It then started getting hard for me to pay the weekly rate to keep us in one hotel, so I put my son into a boys homeless shelter just so that I wouldn’t get into trouble for having him on the streets with me. Then in August 2011, I moved back down here to Citrus County to hopefully be with family but it turned out that even my family down here didn’t want us staying with them. So my brother picked me and son up from the greyhound station here in Crystal River and dropped us off at the Mission In Citrus Homeless Shelters in Crystal River. Since we have been at the shelter I have seen my son go from a kid that would lash out and hit other people to being a calm kid. We go to church every Sunday at the Crystal River United Methodist Church where my son is active in their Youth Group. He does go to CREST where he went from getting “Ds” and “Fs” on his report card to get almost straight “As”. I am also working on getting my VA disability for the third time and getting further with it this time than I have in the past. I now have a copy of my medical records and what I am claiming is in there. So they can’t turn my down this time. I am now back on my meds and being seen up at the Lecanto VA clinic. I am very thankful for everything that the Mission In Citrus has done for me and my son because if it hasn’t been for Jim or the other people at the shelter, I don’t know where I would be now. Thank you and God Bless!!
Scott Lazendorf
My name is Scott Lazendorf and last October I had a nearly perfect life living in Homestead when I became ill and lost my job.
With no income one thing led to another and I lost everything I had. I even wound up sleeping on benches in the Miami area.
My brother and his family living near Orlando agreed to let me stay with them.
But homelessness put a strain on my relationship with my family and in no uncertain terms it was made clear to me I was no longer welcome.
So there I was: income less, property less, transportation less, and homeless.
I emailed or wrote letters to at least 8 different shelters but Pastor Jim Sleighter was the only one who responded to my pleas for help.
It’s been an emotional struggle for me as I try to get back on my feet but here in the Veterans Shelter I’m getting something I haven’t had in almost a year, support.
Dave Gillespie
My name is Dave Gillespie and I arrived here in January of 2011.
I was living in the woods when I came across an ad in the newspaper. I called them, and they came and picked me up. They fed me and the next day they transferred me to the Veteran’s Shelter.
The whole organization has been wonderful to me. They have helped me when everyone else wouldn’t.
My doctor has disabled me, but I help wherever I am needed. I do fire-watch, and anything else I can do to help out.
I cannot say enough how wonderful this organization is. They treat you like a human being. The best thing they have done for me is to bring back my self-worth that I am somebody.
When you mention the word “homeless” people run away. Now they run to you and help. That is all we ever wanted, to stand on our two feet and be a part of society.
Once again, thank-you for all your help,
Anonymous,
This is one of Mission in Citrus Inc.’s Veteran’s stories. He would like to remain anonymous. I promised him I wouldn’t mention his name in his story.
He’s one of our younger Veteran’s. Here is his story.
He signed up for the United States Military. He wanted to serve his country. He was deployed to Iraq.
“One day there was a “friendly” air raid over Bagdad and when it was finally over, the unit was sent to “mop”. It was around 5 p.m. when we got there. We got off the APC’s and started walking. Almost immediately there were shots fired. While trying to open a building door, I got shot in the head. The bullet barely missed my brain, but after the operation there is still shrapnel left inside of my head. I was pronounced dead. I went into a coma minutes later. It took 4 months to wake up.
I had served 2 tours already.
After a year or so of therapy, which was extremely difficult and painful I believe it is better considering the alternative.
After the accident I was deployed to Afghanistan twice and to Columbia to fight The War on Drugs.
I did receive an Honorable Discharge from the U.S. Military.
The adjustment to civilian life was kind of hard. I had various jobs, especially in retail. Who knew the economy was going to plummet? I became homeless in Orlando and quickly found out Orlando is not Veteran Friendly. I went online to find any kind of help. An article caught my eye about a Vet Shelter in Inverness. So I called to see if they had any space for me. The answer was yes. I have been here for about a year and this program has been very good to me.
I currently only receive 10% disability. I am in the process of refilling/appealing the decision they have made. I currently have a job, and am hoping I will be awarded a full pension from the VA when I have another hearing.”
This Veteran served two tours for Our Country, got shot, almost died, went into a coma and signed up for another tour after that. He did this because he thought it was the right thing to do. He speaks 5 languages, and is very intelligent. He suffers from migraines horribly. He occasionally bleeds from his head where he was shot. He still gets up and walks to and from work every day in the Florida heat. It’s at least 2 miles each way. He has only called in sick twice since he has been with this company.
He never fails to help out around here; he helped put in the carpet, and painted the living room on his days off.
He has a wonderful personality, and a great sense of humor. I am blessed to have met him. He is a pleasure to serve.
My name is Andrea. I am a 36 year old mother of a beautiful seven year old boy. I currently live at the Mission Shelter in Floral City,Florida and am thankful for every day that I am given here. I am a recent college graduate with a BS degree in Biology, and minors in Chemistry, and Criminalistics. I served my country in the Army for three years as a pharmacy specialist, and was injured during a routine training drill. I was discharged honorably with a medical discharge, and am currently 40% disabled.
I have been married to an emotionally and physically abusive husband for 9 years. Recently, I told him that I was done taking the abuse and he told me to leave the house. He is bigger and louder than I am, and I did not want our son to see any further arguments or fighting, so I told him that I would be out in three days. I had no idea where I would go, and had no money to do anything with. I stayed in the guest room while he continued to make my living environment as hostile as he could. I left on the third day, with the intention of selling one of my personal items so that I would have the $50 required to open a new bank account for my VA disability check to go into.
My other considerations were whether or not I should go to a rest area off of the Interstate and sleep in my van or use the Wal-Mart parking lot. I was scared, alone, and felt lost as far as what I should do. I went to Cadence bank to open my account, and as I was waiting to be seen, I glanced onto the coffee table, and found a pamphlet for the Mission of Citrus County. I proceeded to read the contents of the pamphlet, and made a decision that I would call them as soon as I had opened my account at the bank. Leaving the bank, with the intention of making the call to a homeless shelter for housing, the fear welled up in my gut, and tears began to run down my cheeks.
I never would have thought that I would ever be homeless. With no other option left, I made the call, and they asked me to come in and fill out some paperwork. They told me that I could stay there in Crystal River. When I arrived at the shelter I was very scared. The individuals who greeted me were very comforting and made me feel more at ease. I have grown to love the people who live in these homes, and am impressed with the stamina that many of them have shown, and the many journeys that each of them have made. In each person’s life story, evidence of God’s providence and love is manifested in the provision and deliverance from homelessness and hunger.
The Mission at Citrus saved my life in more ways than just providing a safe place to live and food to eat, they have provided many of the resources that I needed to get back on my feet, back into the workforce, and into a place of my own. I see a bright future ahead for myself and my son, and I honestly believe that it would not have been possible without The Missions help. I will be forever grateful.
Marilyn Schoefer US Navy
My name is Marilyn Schoefer and I am the oldest out of three siblings. I was born into the military. My dad served twenty years in the Marine Corps. During that time, I would make friends when we got to a new duty station and then have to move again after only being in one place for no more than three years. I also got to spend three years overseas in Japan from April 1986 to March 1989. I graduated high school in Jacksonville North Carolina with Honors in June 1992. I then went on to Coastal Carolina Community College in the fall of 1992. I was going to major in Business Computer Programming. I couldn’t continue with college because I didn’t have the money to keep going. So I did the next best thing and decided to go into the Air Force. I was all set to leave for the Air Force in July of 1993. But on Mother’s Day 1993 my mother was tragically murdered and taken out of my life. I was 19 at the time. Between the time that my mom was killed and I was supposed to go into the Air Force, I got pregnant with my oldest daughter. Her father didn’t want to have anything to do with me while I was pregnant with her so I moved down here to Florida with my dad and brother. My daughter was born in February 1994. After trying to find a job and raise my daughter on my own with no help from her father, I decided to try and go into the Air Force again. I talked to an Air Force recruiter in January 1997. I had already given my dad plenary guardianship of my daughter so that I could go into the military. Well, the Air Force took eight months to tell me that I couldn’t go in because I was going in as a single parent. So the Air Force recruiter handed my file over the Navy recruiter and I was enlisted in the Navy in less than a week. I went to boot camp from September 1997 to November 1997 in Great Lakes IL. After I graduated from Boot Camp, I went to indoc for the school that I was going to do in the navy and met my current husband. We got married the end of February 1998 after I found out that I was pregnant with my son. I then had changed “A” schools from TechCore to Hospitalman (HM) “A” School where I was the first pregnant student to make it through the complete school. I graduated from HM “A” school when I was eight months pregnant. I then got stationed at the Naval Hospital Great Lakes satellite clinic USS Tranquility over at the Recruit Training Command (RTC). My son was born in October 1998 and he was a healthy boy. Then in December 1998, my two month old son spiked a really high fever for no reason. I took him the emergency room at the Naval Hospital and they performed a spinal tap on him. Then in May 1999, I had to a cone biopsy done because I had the start of cervical cancer and I almost bled to death with my son in the room with me when I went to the ER for passing the blood clot. My son then came down with Scarletina, Strep Throat, and another high fever when he was nine months old in July 1999. During all this time I was having a hard time dealing with my mom’s death and I started going off on the people that I worked with. My Leading Petty Officer sent me in to talk to a mental health doctor to see what was going on. I went in for the appointment only to be diagnosed with a personality disorder. I was put on medication to try and treat my condition. I got honorably discharged from the Navy in May 2000 after serving my country just less than three years. I then moved all of my household belongings, myself, my toddler son, a car, and a dog out to Bremerton, Washington where my husband was stationed on the USS Carl Vinson. I met a wonderful lady by the name of Erica and we became quick friends and are still best friends to this day. Since I have gotten out, I have applied for my VA Disability Benefits twice and have gotten turned down because I was told that what I was claiming was wrong with me was not in my medical records when I knew otherwise. In 2005, my husband admitted to sexually molesting a minor child and went to jail for it in November 2005. I had become a single parent since then raising my son by myself with help friends and family. In the summer of 2006, I was reunited with my daughter for two weeks. I then felt complete at that time because I had both of my kids with me for a short time. In January 2008, I became homeless with my son. I had to lose everything that I had. If it wasn’t for me reconnecting with my sister in December 2007, I would have ended up on the streets with my son. Her and husband bought plane tickets for both me and my son to fly out to Jacksonville, North Carolina where we stayed with them until November 2008. During that time, I got a job working at Rite Aid Pharmacies as a store associate and then later becoming a shift supervisor. I worked for Rite Aid just over three years from May 2008 to August 2011. In August 2009, I moved from North Carolina up to Virginia Beach, VA where my best friend and her family were stationed and stayed with her until February 2011. At that time, my son and I were staying in hotel after hotel. It then started getting hard for me to pay the weekly rate to keep us in one hotel, so I put my son into a boys homeless shelter just so that I wouldn’t get into trouble for having him on the streets with me. Then in August 2011, I moved back down here to Citrus County to hopefully be with family but it turned out that even my family down here didn’t want us staying with them. So my brother picked me and son up from the greyhound station here in Crystal River and dropped us off at the Mission In Citrus Homeless Shelters in Crystal River. Since we have been at the shelter I have seen my son go from a kid that would lash out and hit other people to being a calm kid. We go to church every Sunday at the Crystal River United Methodist Church where my son is active in their Youth Group. He does go to CREST where he went from getting “Ds” and “Fs” on his report card to get almost straight “As”. I am also working on getting my VA disability for the third time and getting further with it this time than I have in the past. I now have a copy of my medical records and what I am claiming is in there. So they can’t turn my down this time. I am now back on my meds and being seen up at the Lecanto VA clinic. I am very thankful for everything that the Mission In Citrus has done for me and my son because if it hasn’t been for Jim or the other people at the shelter, I don’t know where I would be now. Thank you and God Bless!!
Scott Lazendorf
My name is Scott Lazendorf and last October I had a nearly perfect life living in Homestead when I became ill and lost my job.
With no income one thing led to another and I lost everything I had. I even wound up sleeping on benches in the Miami area.
My brother and his family living near Orlando agreed to let me stay with them.
But homelessness put a strain on my relationship with my family and in no uncertain terms it was made clear to me I was no longer welcome.
So there I was: income less, property less, transportation less, and homeless.
I emailed or wrote letters to at least 8 different shelters but Pastor Jim Sleighter was the only one who responded to my pleas for help.
It’s been an emotional struggle for me as I try to get back on my feet but here in the Veterans Shelter I’m getting something I haven’t had in almost a year, support.
Dave Gillespie
My name is Dave Gillespie and I arrived here in January of 2011.
I was living in the woods when I came across an ad in the newspaper. I called them, and they came and picked me up. They fed me and the next day they transferred me to the Veteran’s Shelter.
The whole organization has been wonderful to me. They have helped me when everyone else wouldn’t.
My doctor has disabled me, but I help wherever I am needed. I do fire-watch, and anything else I can do to help out.
I cannot say enough how wonderful this organization is. They treat you like a human being. The best thing they have done for me is to bring back my self-worth that I am somebody.
When you mention the word “homeless” people run away. Now they run to you and help. That is all we ever wanted, to stand on our two feet and be a part of society.
Once again, thank-you for all your help,
Anonymous,
This is one of Mission in Citrus Inc.’s Veteran’s stories. He would like to remain anonymous. I promised him I wouldn’t mention his name in his story.
He’s one of our younger Veteran’s. Here is his story.
He signed up for the United States Military. He wanted to serve his country. He was deployed to Iraq.
“One day there was a “friendly” air raid over Bagdad and when it was finally over, the unit was sent to “mop”. It was around 5 p.m. when we got there. We got off the APC’s and started walking. Almost immediately there were shots fired. While trying to open a building door, I got shot in the head. The bullet barely missed my brain, but after the operation there is still shrapnel left inside of my head. I was pronounced dead. I went into a coma minutes later. It took 4 months to wake up.
I had served 2 tours already.
After a year or so of therapy, which was extremely difficult and painful I believe it is better considering the alternative.
After the accident I was deployed to Afghanistan twice and to Columbia to fight The War on Drugs.
I did receive an Honorable Discharge from the U.S. Military.
The adjustment to civilian life was kind of hard. I had various jobs, especially in retail. Who knew the economy was going to plummet? I became homeless in Orlando and quickly found out Orlando is not Veteran Friendly. I went online to find any kind of help. An article caught my eye about a Vet Shelter in Inverness. So I called to see if they had any space for me. The answer was yes. I have been here for about a year and this program has been very good to me.
I currently only receive 10% disability. I am in the process of refilling/appealing the decision they have made. I currently have a job, and am hoping I will be awarded a full pension from the VA when I have another hearing.”
This Veteran served two tours for Our Country, got shot, almost died, went into a coma and signed up for another tour after that. He did this because he thought it was the right thing to do. He speaks 5 languages, and is very intelligent. He suffers from migraines horribly. He occasionally bleeds from his head where he was shot. He still gets up and walks to and from work every day in the Florida heat. It’s at least 2 miles each way. He has only called in sick twice since he has been with this company.
He never fails to help out around here; he helped put in the carpet, and painted the living room on his days off.
He has a wonderful personality, and a great sense of humor. I am blessed to have met him. He is a pleasure to serve.
