Sheri, 77, shared her story in hopes to break stereotypes surrounding homelessness.
Sheri considers herself an intelligent person. She was a dental hygienist for 15 years and owned a consulting business for 20 years, but when her mother and brother became ill, she spent years caring for them, making full time work difficult.
After her family members passed, Sheri leaned on others. She moved to Dallas and stayed with a relative, then relocated to Galveston to live with friends, but couldn’t find a job to accommodate her own health issues.
Sheri had always supported herself, and despite once earning $80 an hour as a consultant, money was now tight and her stress grew, so she returned to Dallas in Jan. 2020 to find assistance.
Then the pandemic hit. After staying in a hotel for 2 weeks, Sheri ran out of money, and started sleeping in her car in Highland Park. She was in disbelief and thought “This doesn’t happen to people like me.”
One day she met someone at a park who referred her to a local organization that placed her on a housing list. In September 2020, she moved into an apartment that was paid for a year, but with social security as her only source of income and no job, she was once again stressed about the future. After years of tight budgeting and maxing out her credit cards, Sheri ran out of resources in June 2025 and had to give up her apartment or face eviction.
After moving her belongings to storage, Sheri visited a Dallas shelter that was $15 a night, but she couldn’t afford it. In the peak of the summer, she was back to living in her car and physically drained.
Eventually she was referred to Austin Street Center where she discovered Sisterhood and joined the program. Now Sheri says, “I wake up with a sense of joy and fulfillment.” She is using her time at Sisterhood as a break from years of stress and is tackling essential tasks like beginning therapy, filing for bankruptcy, and volunteering at a Dallas Animal Shelter.
Her goal now is to find a permanent home and keep moving forward. “My future is limitless,” she said. “I’m healthy and I know I can make it.”
