Miriam's Kitchen

David Obamogie

Twenty years ago, David moved to the US from Nigeria. He lived and worked in New York City, and later came to Washington, DC. However, without a job or identification, David ended up living on the street near the World Bank. Life on the streets has been hard. David struggles

George Olivar

To live a noble life – this has been George Olivar’s ambition. As he pursued this goal he has experienced many highs and recent lows on a journey that took him around the world, but the future is finally looking bright again. George, 68, was born and raised in Mexico.

Jennifer

Jennifer, 38, grew up in the Baltimore foster care system. For the last twenty years, she has been experiencing homelessness. It seemed that every time she got into a stable living situation, the bottom would fall out and she would be homeless again. This cycle kept repeating over and over

Lorena

I am Latina, I am homeless, and I am transgender. Any one of these things is a lot for a person to handle. I am all three. I have been homeless for almost five years. The most difficult thing I experience is loneliness. Growing up, I never considered living in

Marlon Anderson

Marlon experienced a hearing loss at age 5, but he’s still been able to work and live on his own. One day a supervisor got mad because he thought Marlon was listening to music on the job. The man didn’t realize that he had hearing aids – he thought

Marquel Brown

For Marquel Brown, 39, the past 12 years have been the story of bad luck and good decisions. From a young age, Marquel had a love for food. “I probably started cooking at nine or ten years old,” he remembers. “There’s nothing like a great sandwich, or making breakfast. I’ve

Marvin Fields

Six years ago, Marvin first arrived at Miriam’s Kitchen. Struggling with a complex health issue and living with chronic pain, Marvin was often uncommunicative. Most days he’d stand quietly outside Miriam’s Kitchen with his shopping cart full of belongings. And while he would regularly join us for meals and certain

Michael Ford

After dropping out of college in Colorado, Michael Ford experienced his first break down. He struggled with his mental illness, drank too much, got into fights and ended up in jail. For the next ten years, Michael repeated the cycle of going from jail to a mental institution and then

Patricia

October 31, 2014. Patricia knows that date well. It’s the date she signed the lease on her PSH apartment and moved in. It is the first night in over 20 years that Patricia had a place to call home. Patricia grew up around Boston, MA. After earning a culinary certificate,

Ricky

Ricky is 51 years old and has lived with a serious mental illness most of his life. He suffers from severe schizophrenia, and hears voices on a regular basis. He often lives in fear and distress, and as a result, his behavior is frequently erratic and unpredictable. Because of the

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