Homeless woman gets job and housing after honest interview

When Jovanda Taylor left the permanent address field blank on her job application, she knew she'd have to explain why. She and her boyfriend Kevin Washington had been sleeping in their truck for over a month, rearranging the seats each night to make room for themselves and their two dogs.

Taylor's trouble started when she moved from New Orleans to Houston after her mother died. Her nursing assistant certification didn't transfer to Texas, making her hard-earned credential worthless across state lines. She and Washington found Houston overwhelming and returned to Louisiana, but work still didn't come.

"We couldn't find any work. We would go to food pantries. That was our excitement," Taylor told local news. She kept applying anyway, filling out more than 20 applications before Maison de Lafayette, a nursing facility in Lafayette, called her back.

She cleaned up at a rest stop and went to the interview. When hiring manager Wendy King asked about the missing address, Taylor made a choice. "I pulled her to the side and said, 'I'm homeless, living in my truck, and I need help,'" Taylor recalled.

King sat down with her. Instead of ending the interview, she connected Taylor with Terrance St. Julian, who runs Pay It Forward, Lending A Helping Hand, a local nonprofit serving unhoused residents. Between the nonprofit and the facility, they put the couple up in a hotel for a month. Taylor got the job too, starting the following Monday.

Sunny's Take

Terry Gros, an administrator at Maison de Lafayette, said helping Taylor was the obvious choice. "She was in dire straits. Obviously, she and her partner needed more than just a job; they needed a way to be safe. We asked what she needed, and we mobilized resources to support her."

The facility didn't just see a blank space on an application. They saw someone who kept trying despite everything falling apart, someone who chose honesty over hiding, and someone worth investing in.

"I was about to give up, but I continued to apply," Taylor said. "To walk in here and fill the void that we needed, just a big blessing."

Taylor and Washington are now apartment hunting, and she's showing up to work every day at a place that saw her potential before she had an address.