When Jeffrey Rawlings became homeless his sophomore year in college, he was too ashamed to tell his family. When it happened again years later, he kept it secret again — even though he was working for a church program that assisted people experiencing homelessness.
“I kind of jokingly called it the greatest story never told because I had no intention of ever telling it,” Rawlings said. “It became important for other people for me to go ahead and tell [my story].”
Rawlings spent weeks sleeping in his car and couch-surfing, not unlike the people he served in the church program, and that he now serves in his job with the City of Durham, working for HEART (Holistic Empathetic Assistance Response Teams), a program that helps people exiting homelessness find permanent housing…