Success Stories
![success stories image](/homeless/ssvf/assets/SuccessStory.png)
Don't be afraid to face your fears or your doubts. Be unafraid of failure
Tallahassee, Florida native Charles Windom vividly remembers
growing up listening to Florida A&M University's Marching 100
band with his sisters. Charles' father is a Navy Veteran that
served in World War II, and just 7 days after graduating high
school, Charles joined the Navy as well. For 20 years, Charles
traveled the world and was granted the opportunity to live in
Italy, Iceland and California while focusing on
telecommunications. He retired from the Navy in 2001, prior to
the 9/11 terrorist attacks. Charles is a Master of Information
Technology and spent many years working in telecommunications at
AT&T. Charles became homeless in the fall of 2013 after an
intense divorce in which he lost his home, car and experienced
significant wage garnishments. Charles moved in with his sister
in South Carolina for 3 months, but later decided to relocate to
Jacksonville, Florida in order to pursue job opportunities. Only
8 short days after moving to Jacksonville, Charles fell ill and
was in a coma from November 2013 through February 2014. Once he
came out of his coma, he spent many months in rehab regain
muscle recognition.
Charles recalls being unable to lift a book bag. After
completing rehab, Charles moved back near his sister and
immediately began to apply for jobs in Atlanta. In June 2014, he
visited the VA for housing options and was placed at Essence of
Hope, where he lived for 1 month. He became involved with the
United Way of Greater Atlanta SSVF program in July 2014, when
placed in permanent housing. He is grateful for the staff at
Recovery Consultants of Atlanta for assisting him with housing
and job placement, especially during his weakened physical
state. He also received legal assistance from the Georgia Law
Center. Charles noted that during his plight of homelessness and
illness, he was never depressed or sad, he was simply grateful
to breathe on his own. He was very confident that the best was
yet to come. Charles is currently an Applications Engineer
Manager for Southern Company, and enjoys studying, cooking, and
eating. Although there are many things that Charles would like
to accomplish in the near future, he says that he's learned that
“change won't happen in a week.
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