Walking into Gabrielle’s apartment, you can immediately sense you are in the presence of a true artist and a deeply wise person. But Gabrielle’s journey to where she is today has not been easy. Gabrielle experienced housing instability for several years, living in her car and then in a transitional housing motel in Mid City for 15 months. Gabrielle would go through several life hardships before she was finally connected to Brilliant Corners.
Gabrielle navigated a serious injury from a car accident that took her many months to recover from. Gabrielle experienced several barriers to housing because she could no longer work and was denied various apartments because of her credit. The stress of her life and not having a home negatively impacted her mental health.
With support from the Department of Health Services (DHS) Housing for Health initiative, Gabrielle was connected to Brilliant Corners and her case management provider. Her wraparound support system assisted her in locating and applying to an apartment, and her Housing Coordinator and Case Worker advocated for her application to be accepted when concerns about her credit came up.
Gabrielle was overwhelmed by the generosity and support when she moved in and picked her furniture. Gabrielle shared, “I am still overwhelmed when I think about everything they [Brilliant Corners] did for me…I had nothing and still to this day think what is the catch? There has got to be a catch. This is way too good to be true in a way. But I’m like okay it’s been like 4.5 years, maybe there is no catch.”
Since moving into her one-bedroom apartment, Gabrielle has been able to heal physically, emotionally, and mentally, rebuild her credit, and adorn her home with her art and photography. Her walls are decorated with many of her beautiful cross-stitch pieces, photographs of loved ones, mementos of her travels, and frisbee discs that honor her late brother.
“Every single day I look around my place since I’ve moved in and just appreciate so much. I have come pretty far from where I was.”
– Gabrielle