As Shameka Parrish-Wright will tell you, generational poverty is a pit so deep it’s nearly impossible to climb out of.
 

“Every day I had to fight to make sure we can get through the day,” Parrish-Wright said. “And so because of that, that struggle means you make decisions that are decisions of poverty, decisions that come because you don't know what your options are.”
 

Poverty means nothing is permanent. The only constant is change.
 

“My mom struggled with poverty,” Parrish-Wright added. “She lost her parents very young, and so we moved around a lot. I went to 17 schools, four colleges. I've lived in four states. We moved because, simply, even if we were in a one-bedroom, sometimes she just couldn't afford to rent.”
 

As a teenager, Parrish-Wright’s life was shattered. She was raped by her stepfather. The result was her first child and entrance into the foster care system.
 

“I feel like my inno­cence was taken from me by my stepfather,” she said. “I had no ownership on what happened to my body.”


 

As a young adult, Parrish-Wright did everything society told her to do—she got her GED, attended college, and worked full-time. But when poverty runs generations deep, even doing everything right doesn’t guarantee a way out.
 

“Every time I was homeless as an adult, I simply did not have enough money to pay rent,” Parrish-Wright added.
 

In 2002, she wanted to leave the evictions on her record in the rearview mirror.
 

“I had come down to Louisville several times over the years,” Parrish-Wright added. “And mapped it out, had all the plans, load my kids up, put my stuff in storage, and drove down to Louisville.”


 

Unfortunately, poverty isn’t confined to one place. Shameka and her kids experienced homelessness twice. In May 2014, they became a part of our Homes with Hope Program. This is housing that includes case management.
 

“That is the first time that my family has seen consistent stability,” she said.
 

For the next four years at St. Vincent de Paul, poverty couldn’t compete with stability.


 

“So, participating and joining in with St. Vincent de Paul really changed my family. Because my kids not only had us being able to secure housing, but they had a community with the afterschool programs, with the summer program. We even started a cooking program,” Parrish-Wright said.
 

Or something as simple as her two boys learning how to wrestle.
 

“They got to go to do things. They got to grow,” Parrish-Wright added. “They became student of the month several times at the center. We built relationships with some of the people who were there as staff. They got to join in, and they got to feel that commu­nity I had wanted when I was a young child and a young adult. They got to experience that. And I'm telling you, the success we've seen in our family can be accredited to that.”


 

This stability and support have been a generational game changer in the home.
 

“I never saw any of that," she said. "I just wanted them to survive and live, and now we get to see futures. We get to see careers. We get to participate together because these are the gifts that keep giving. I think when somebody makes a donation, they don't know where it goes, but my family is proof of how far those donations go and continue to go. And now I'm able to give back.”
 

In 2019, U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) recog­nized the transformation that stability and support brought to Parrish-Wright’s family.


 

Today, Parrish-Wright is a source of stability for her family and community. She’s the Louisville Metro District 3 Councilwoman and Executive Director of VOCAL-KY, an organization that assists low-income individuals.
 

“The second time being introduced to a lot of the amazing programming that St. Vincent de Paul had is the reason why I'm sitting here today as an elected Louisville Metro Councilwoman,” Parrish-Wright said. “It started with that work and being supported by St. Vincent de Paul.”


 

Parrish-Wright's parents never owned a home, but now she does. Her older kids joke they’re the “struggle kids,” while the younger ones are the “mortgage kids.”
 

Married 18 years, she's a mother of six and grandmother of four.


 

Parrish-Wright was the keynote speak­er at our seventh annual Roses & Rosé brunch.