PALM BEACH COUNTY, Fla. — For Anita Hester, the park is a place for fun and exercise. But this week while following her normal routine she noticed something out of the ordinary.
“I made it around again and the mother asked if she could talk to me and I said yes and she asked me then if I knew where the closest soup kitchen was,” Hester recalled.
She says she was caught off guard by the question. It was early in the morning and the woman was sitting at the park doing her children’s hair.
“I did ask if they were hungry and she said yes and homeless,” Hester said.
“Before they go to school as the park open we were running into the park I bathed them up and cleaned them up get them ready for school,” the woman told WPTV.
Hester realized a place she used for exercise was a place this woman used as a home
“It’s a hard thing when you’re at a park at night with kids where there is other people who are on drugs or drunk. You just have to have a strong mind,” the woman said.
WPTV spoke with that woman, Friday. We are choosing not to reveal her identity because she says she is a survivor of domestic abuse. She says she had an apartment until February when her world came crashing down again.
"Because my lease was up I had to leave my apartment and ended up on the streets with my kids,” she said.
The woman told WPTV she tried to get into a shelter.
“I did it every day from February until now,” she said. “It’s always they’re full, I have a big family or they’ll put me on waiting list or call back.”
This week she and her kids are staying in a hotel thanks to Hester and Sabrina Harris the CEO & Executive Director of
House of Loveillionaires Inc. a small local non-profit that helps survivors of domestic abuse.
“I look at her and say it could be me at any time. The amount of kids is not the same, but I woman, I’m a mother,” Hester said. “No one plans for health issues to hit you like that. No one plans on losing their jobs and when I look at her that could be me.”
Hester says they have been able to provide a hotel room and food for the woman until, Wednesday. But she says they are hoping soon she can get into a shelter.
If you would like to help you can contact Sabrina Harris the CEO & Executive Director, House of Loveillionaires Inc.
Email: houseofloveillionaires yahoo.com
Phone: 561- 352-5418