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Sonya’s Perseverance Through Struggle

Sonya Carter - Fort Wayne, Indiana

Sonya shares about her difficult journey moving to Fort Wayne from the south, arriving here with no family and resources while having to deal with stereotypes and cultural differences. She shares about her early morning bus trips to work, at 5:30am in freezing temperatures, when she first moved to Fort Wayne. Though it was difficult, she insists that being "a little uncomfortable makes you strong," and that she has grown as a person and parent through her struggles.

Driving her story is her love and care for her son, a 4.0 student in high school, and her quest to raise him well. She speaks to her worries for him, as a young black man, walking around the neighborhood and being confronted by police. She also expresses her frustration at the judgement she receives from society for being a single parent. Sonya shares a powerful witness to being herself and owning her past, present, and future.

Sonya also briefly shares her experience with Vincent Village, saying that they became a family for her and helped her get organized and move from having nothing to being about to take care of herself and her family.