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Discover The Humanity of Homelessness, a podcast from Church at the Park that brings you honest, heartfelt conversations with people experiencing homelessness, community leaders, and staff.
Welcome to the humanity of homelessness. I'm John Marshall, and this is a podcast from Church at the Park in Salem, Oregon. Since 02/2007, Church at the Park has created community with our neighbors living outside. Today, we get to offer collaborative navigation, emergency sheltering, workforce development, and supported housing for our neighbors in need. In each episode, we hear from a member of our community who is experiencing or has experienced homelessness.
John Marshall:We invite them to share their story in their own words so that they and we might remember their goodness, their courage, their hope, and their humanity. You can find this podcast wherever podcasts are found, and it is helpful to us if you subscribe and share episodes that inspire you. Thanks to everyone for tuning in and joining us as we celebrate good news in the hardest, most unexpected places. In today's episode, we get to hear from one of our program participants, Aurora. Since May, Aurora and her family have been members of our family shelter community.
John Marshall:And even in that brief amount of time, Aurora has had an incredible impact on the people around her. She's a single mother of five and her story is full of pain and hardship, but also resilience and faith and transformation, which serves as inspiration for the rest of us who get to know her. Somehow, Aurora hangs on to a spirit of positivity in the midst of it all, which infects the spaces she inhabits with joy and courage. I'm so grateful Aurora said yes to being on the podcast, and I cannot wait for her to share her story. Aurora, welcome.
John Marshall:Thank you for being here today.
Aurora Granado:Thank you for having me.
John Marshall:Yeah. Absolutely. How are you today? How's life this week?
Aurora Granado:I'm doing great, and it's been amazing. Everything's looking up, so I'm excited.
John Marshall:I'm really encouraged by that. Give me some of the highlights over the last week. Like, why why is life so good right now? What's looking up?
Aurora Granado:Well, because I'm supposed to start a new job on the 20, so that's awesome, at Amazon, actually.
John Marshall:Excellent.
Aurora Granado:And then, you know, just walking in faith just makes everything better, makes my whole week just awesome.
John Marshall:Yeah. When Keely, our peer support specialist, recommended you for the podcast, one of the things that she said was that you seem to hold on to this really deep faith that is consistent no matter the circumstances around you. I'm really excited to hear more about that part of your story. Briefly though, I just want to celebrate that you you have a new job coming up. Mhmm.
John Marshall:How long has it been since you've had a previous job?
Aurora Granado:I think like a year and a half.
John Marshall:Okay. Yeah. Are you feeling most excited? Any nervousness about starting work again?
Aurora Granado:Just a little nervous, but mainly excited.
John Marshall:Okay.
Aurora Granado:Because from there, this is gonna look up, you know, like, I'll be able to get a place and all that stuff, have money for me, my daughter, my kids, you know, so it's gonna be exciting.
John Marshall:Yeah. That's excellent. I'm so excited to hear how that brings good things into your life. Mhmm. Well, the premise of this podcast is to offer folks in our community a chance to tell their own story in their own words, and to offer wisdom to all of us who are listening and to all of us who are at Church of the Park about what the experience of homelessness might have to teach us about what it means to be human in the world, and to experience hard things and to find ourselves on the other end of all of that.
John Marshall:And always the easiest place for me to start is with home and with the very beginning of your story. So I'm curious, when you think about the word home, where's the first place that you ever called home? Like, where did you grow up? And what was childhood like?
Aurora Granado:Well, my childhood was not easy. I didn't have it easy at all. My mom, she was in and out of prison. We were in and out of foster care, you know, like, we got hurt by close relatives that we were supposed to trust. Yeah.
Aurora Granado:So it hasn't really been easy at all. Actually, when I first called home is when I was already an adult and I made my own home with my kids and their father, you know? That was home.
John Marshall:That's a common story that I hear in a lot of folks that sometimes the easiest place to call home is the one that you create for yourself. And I'm really glad to hear that you have had at least a part of your life where you got to create the home that you really wanted to experience, and especially with your kids. Did you grow up here in Salem? Are you a native of Oregon? Where do like, where was childhood?
John Marshall:Salem, Oregon. Okay.
Aurora Granado:Yeah. I've lived here my whole life.
John Marshall:Okay. Yeah. What schools did you go to growing up?
Aurora Granado:I went to well, I went to a lot, because I was like moving from foster care to foster care. So I went to, like, Cummings so all my elementary, I went to Cummings, I went to Four Corners, Richmond. I went to I think that's it. And then I went middle schools, I went to Adam Stevens, Howe, Valor Middle School, that's in Woodburn. And then high schools, McKay South, and then Roberts High School, and then the teen parent program because I got pregnant at a teen.
Aurora Granado:Okay.
John Marshall:As I listened to you name all of those different stops, I think of the experiences I've had in my own life, and the experiences I hear from others, when they're moving from place to place so frequently that it can create this sense of instability, and in that midst, it can sometimes be hard to know who you are and who you're supposed to be in the world, and who's safe, and who you can rely on. I'm curious as you were growing up and going through all those different environments, what are the things that you learned about yourself? What were the things that helped you feel like you knew who you are were in the world? I mean, it were there hobbies? Were there school activities?
John Marshall:Sports? Music? Like, were the what were the good things about growing up?
Aurora Granado:Well, the only sports that I played was like soccer. So for the little bit that I did play, I felt like I belonged, you know. But to be honest, I never really knew who I was up until now because I was just so lost in everything all the time. And I made wrong choices and stuff like that, trying to figure out who I was. But I know I'm a good mother and I wanna be with my kids.
Aurora Granado:I know that much, you know. But like, as a person, I barely just found out, thanks to the Lord Jesus Christ, that he gave me a new identity that I never knew I could be, you know. So right now I know who I am rather than when I was young and going through it and still making my own place and stuff. Was still nurtured. Like I was still stuck in that mindset to help my family because that's all we knew.
Aurora Granado:Know, kids taking care of kids, that's all we did. So now, like I'm taking care of myself and making things better for myself rather than worrying about like, you know, I love helping people, but like, to a certain extent, you know, so it doesn't make me fall. Because sometimes me helping people can make I make myself fall. And now I know and see that and I can put boundaries there and not feel horrible and just give it to God, you know?
John Marshall:That sounds like some wisdom that you've earned. Mhmm. And so my suspicion is that maybe this part of you that is so quick to help others was a way of creating stability for yourself. And I know I can help people, and maybe that's something I can rely on to help me navigate the world. Is that a fair assessment?
Aurora Granado:Yes. And it was like, yeah, that's exactly what it is. It was like a codependency. Me feeling like I'm helping somebody made me feel whole in a way, and like together, because that's all I knew. It was like, oh, if I make them happy, it'll make me happy.
Aurora Granado:But if I can't make them happy, then, oh my gosh, my world is coming down. Need to do something else to make them, you know, like happy or make that person or my somebody, you know? That's why I became a caregiver too because I was able to take care of just like the people, you know? And it made me feel good, like the nurturer in me growing up. That's what I did, know?
Aurora Granado:Like, even when I even when I had my own places, all my brothers and sisters came lived with me at one point, you know, because I was in the middle child and I had it put all together all the time, you know, then I lost myself and then well, whatever. And I fell and I didn't have that support, you know. So it's like that hurt me too when I became homeless too. Like, it was hard, you know, that's all I can say. That was hard, but God helped me through it.
Aurora Granado:So and that's why I'm still strong to this day and still fighting and not giving up, you know.
John Marshall:I'm so thankful to hear that. I wanna ask about where in your story homelessness becomes your reality. Was that was that an experience that you became acquainted with early on in life? Was it more into adulthood?
Aurora Granado:Yes. Actually, now that I'm thinking about it, yes. My mom, she was homeless throughout her life too on and off. So like, we were homeless living in Like I have like flashbacks, like when I became homeless, because I've been homeless twice, this is my second time, you know? So the first time I became homeless, I cried because it's like, wow, this is what my mom did to us and now look at me with my kids, you know?
Aurora Granado:Like, I'm in a hotel with my kids, you know? It wasn't like how my mom was because she was doing drugs and stuff like that. But it's like, just the hurt that it's on me now, you know? Like, I'm doing the same. Whether it was my fault or not, it doesn't matter.
Aurora Granado:Like, I needed to do something to get out of it, you know? Because the person I relied on let me and my kids down. So we lost our place and then I had to figure out go into survival mode, which I never knew before up until I got into the hotels. Because like I said, like, I asked all my family for help and no one They all said no to me, you know? So like, that was a tough pill, you know?
Aurora Granado:Like, wow, now I gotta do it on my own. You know? Like, with five well, I had four at the time and I was pregnant with my my last daughter, but it's like, it was hard and I cried. And I was like going into depression, but I pulled myself out of it. It's like, this is just temporary.
Aurora Granado:It's not forever. You know? So like, after all that, like, I ended up stop relying on the person that said they were gonna help me get out of the hotels and did it on my own with my kids and got into another shelter home and got a job and everything went up from there, you know? And that's me like pulling myself out of homelessness the first time when my daughter when I was pregnant, she's five now, so it was like five years ago. The first time I became homeless, you know?
Aurora Granado:And it's like, yeah. And it's it's not easy.
John Marshall:Yeah. It's not easy. And I wanna I wanna ask you what allowed you to pull yourself up out of those experiences. But as I'm listening to you, I'm thinking about moments when I've encountered someone in the world who finds out what I do and what community I participate in, and then they want to have this conversation with me around the solutions for homelessness, and what it's gonna take to get to a version of the world where homelessness doesn't exist anymore. And then as we're in this conversation, sometimes what we notice together is like, in order to start creating solutions, you really have to have this honest accounting of what allows homelessness to exist in the first place.
John Marshall:And the more that I participate in the Church of the Park community, one of the things that I noticed is that if I've met 10 different people, I've met 10 different reasons why homelessness exists. And I've met then 10 different solutions that are required to address the experience of homelessness. So my question for you Aurora is, can you name some of the factors or some of the things that that made it easy for you to find yourself in a hotel room? Like what was it that led you to the experience of homelessness or to that context? What were the things that made life really hard to create stability for you and your family as you were finding yourself in those places?
Aurora Granado:So I did start doing drugs, you know, because I stayed home, you know, like I switched positions with the father of the kids. So I stayed home with the kids and he went to work. So like, me like not seeking like the childcare for me and stuff and staying home and just letting it be and seeing that it was dying down and just letting it, not thinking it was gonna end up like to where it did, you know? Like that's what caused me to become homeless, you know? And that hurt, you know?
Aurora Granado:So it's like, that hurt real bad.
John Marshall:So it was your dependency on drugs.
Aurora Granado:And on somebody else to rely on them to like pay, trusting them. That they were gonna that they cared as much as I did when I was working to keep the rent and keep the housing and keep the lights and keep the food, you know, stuff like that. You know, the only reason why I switched with him because he didn't wanna watch my kids anymore. So I was like, okay, I'll stay home then. And that was a big no no.
Aurora Granado:You know, so that put me in the mud where, oh, I can't trust anybody with my rent anymore. I can't trust anybody. You know, like, if I did have a boyfriend, I'm not gonna trust them to pay my rent. I'm just gonna do it on my own, you know, and that sucks. You know, that sucks really bad when you can't trust your significant other that much, at least for the house, you know?
Aurora Granado:So it's like, yeah, that kinda sucks too because like, it's the second time I became homeless too. So it's like, it just sucks. We don't learn our lessons till it happens like three times, sometimes, at least with me, you know? So
John Marshall:So then at, you know, at the point where you decide, alright, I'm done with this. I want a better life for myself and my kids. What was that moment in your head like to decide, I'm gonna start working for a better future?
Aurora Granado:When I went into Samanka shelter home, I was there for a little bit then COVID hit, and then like, I couldn't see my kids because they weren't allowing it and it was cold. So I didn't wanna be outside with my kids. So then like, I started working. Like I got a job when I was at Samanka and I got I was able to buy a car off somebody at work, which was really a blessing, you know? And then like, I left Samaka, went to a hotel again, because I wanted to be with my kids.
Aurora Granado:But then that's when I started seeking the Lord. And then after I started seeking the Lord, oh my gosh, everything was just going up after that, you know? Like, I got into like, finally promise, and then the Lord blessed me. Let me stay there longer than usual, because it's like a three month. And I stayed there like four months, five months, but because they saw that I was trying so hard to get a place.
Aurora Granado:And then God blessed me with the place and with my kids and with the I even purchased a newer car, you know? So I was just like so happy. But that's like when everything started turning from me. Like where it just hit me like, okay, you got this, you know? Because I ended up splitting up with my daughter's dad.
Aurora Granado:So then I started focusing on myself instead of like, what's he doing? You know, like, who's he talking, you know, stuff like that, like boyfriend girlfriend stuff. And I started focusing on myself and my kids, and then everything just went up after that. And then I ended up getting a place. I was there for like two years, but I was also seeking the Lord and going to church, you know?
Aurora Granado:So that was really that was a blessing, you know, like, and I know he can do it again. He's not done with me yet. He's not done with none of us, you know? So it's it's a cool thing. I'm excited.
John Marshall:I'm excited for you. Sometimes, when I sit with someone who's in the place of darkness and pain and despair, whether that's homelessness or anything else, a very common question is, where is God? And why why is God not doing more to help me or to save me or any version of that question. There's this deep curiosity and confusion of like, why do I have to suffer and where is God? And as I'm listening to you, go, man, your experience sounds like one where God is so central to your story, and that that relationship brought new transformation that is so easy to see.
John Marshall:And so I wonder if if you were to sit with someone, and they would say, Rory, God seems so present in your life, but I can't seem to find God in my life. Where would you start to counsel that person? And where would you start to give advice? And where would you start to encourage someone as you say to seek the Lord? Yeah, what How would you start to respond to someone who goes, I don't know where God is right now because I'm in so much pain?
Aurora Granado:Yeah. So what I would start with is telling them from my experience and then like so like from my experience, I was in the darkness. After like, I went to church, I got my place, I fell off again, you know? So like, I was in the darkness really bad, you know? And I But like, in the midst of the darkness, like God says, we have to seek him and pray and follow him the best that we can.
Aurora Granado:Because being in the darkness is not a fun thing, you know? And we all, like, like, I could hear him, but I couldn't, you know? But that was me pressing in and pushing in because, you know, he hears us. He hears our prayers. He hears our cry and stuff.
Aurora Granado:And sometimes people get weary and then they just like, let it go because like, oh, God doesn't hear me because they expect it so quick. You know, like, God, it God's timing is perfect. Okay? It really is the most beautiful perfect timing ever in the world. Like, I was in the darkness for a year and a half and God pulled me out.
Aurora Granado:He put me in jail and then he pulled me out. It was the most beautiful thing. It was a blessing to go to jail for me. Like, he brought me back to life, you know? And it's like, and what I can give advice is that don't get weary because even though we think he's not there and he can't hear us, he's right there.
Aurora Granado:He just wants to see that we are pushing and compressing it and keep going because that's what God wants. He doesn't want anybody to to suffer. He doesn't want anybody to die in their sin. He wants everybody to come to light. He loves us all, you know?
Aurora Granado:And it's like, I was just on keep pressing. I would do bible studies with them too, you know. Like, come on, like, for real, like, God is good and he's the only way. He is the only way to true happiness and peace in the mind. Because, you know, like, I don't even have like chaos in my head anymore.
Aurora Granado:Like how I used to like, oh, you're not good enough or oh, you're such a bad mom like this. And like, I was making myself so depressed and now it's silence in there. You know, like, everything is just so peaceful and restful in my head. And I'm just like, I was in jail one day and I was just like, wow. This is what peace feels like.
Aurora Granado:This is like, it's so beautiful. Just like, not even like crying over my kids. I did cry here and there, but I gave it to God all the time. So it's like, I was just told him to seek God, the peace, like, just keep talking like my experience and my testimony. Because I have a lot of testimony and God had brought me out of the light.
Aurora Granado:He can do it for you too. He can do it for anybody. You just gotta seek him and want him and believe that Jesus Christ is the Lord and savior, you know? And then he died on the cross for us and everything, you know? And then from there on, like, that's the first step.
Aurora Granado:And then seeking and wanting the word and hungry and thirst for our Lord and savior, you know? And that's where it's just, everything just goes up after that. There's no more enemy in your life, you know? And that's where the darkness is and it's gone. So I really like that.
John Marshall:No. I
Aurora Granado:like I'm like so excited about it. It's so much fun.
John Marshall:Feel myself encouraged in this moment just sitting and listening to you. And I'm and I'm so hopeful that this podcast, this episode, will reach someone's ears who needs to hear that as well.
Aurora Granado:Amen. And I know it will. I know it because God told me to do this, you know. And it was so cool because like, let me just tell you, when I was in jail, I would hear Real Vee, that podcast. I don't know if you ever heard it.
Aurora Granado:It's like, they're Christian and they're like, they wanna make a move in the prisons because her son was in prison. So it's like a podcast just for people in jail and prison. And I was just like, that would be so cool to be on a podcast. Like, it doesn't matter just like to say my testimony and help somebody out there. And then I come to church at the park, and then they're like, wanna be on a podcast?
Aurora Granado:I was like, count me in. I'm so excited. So like, this is a blessing to me, and God knew that I can help somebody out there, you know. And I know someone's ears is gonna be open to it, and their heart's gonna be open to the Lord. Amen.
Aurora Granado:I'm so excited.
John Marshall:Amen, indeed. Amen, indeed. Well, there there was a reflection that you included in all of that sharing where you named jail as a blessing. Mhmm. Say more about that.
John Marshall:What what was it about that experience in that environment that you look back on and are grateful for?
Aurora Granado:So I'm gonna go from why it's a blessing. Because so like when I came back when because I was in California and I got stuck out there, like, my stuff got stolen out there. The bus train, whatever ticket that I had got taken. So I got stuck in Cali for like three or four months. So God brought me back.
Aurora Granado:It was perfect. God's timing is so perfect. But anyways, when I came back, I was still doing drugs and stuff. But I was praying, like, God, please save me. I need you I need you Lord.
Aurora Granado:I I don't want this life. Please just put me somewhere good or bad. God, timing is perfect and I trust you. You know? So like, I started Like I said, we get weary.
Aurora Granado:So I started growing weary, you know? Like my prayers weren't as much as they were before. And then bam. I went to jail and then I was just like so thankful. Like I cried in the beginning because my kids like, since I got stuck in Kelly and I lost everything, my kids have like an abandonment issue with me.
Aurora Granado:Like, even though it's not me like not talking to them, like things happen where I lost contact with them. So I was freaking out in jail like, because I didn't want my kids to think I abandoned them again, you know. And they're kids, what else are they gonna think? So like, God made it happen to where I was able to talk to somebody on the outside that went to my kids' house to let them know I was in jail. And then after that, I was okay, you know.
Aurora Granado:And then I just started like being in prayer. I started fasting in jail, you know. Like, I was always worshiping. I prayed so much in jail and he blessed me, you know? Like, because he took me from the streets.
Aurora Granado:He brought me back to life from addiction. Like, I have no more taste of addiction in my mouth anymore. Praise God for that. You know? Because like, if I didn't have God right now, which I'm so thankful I do, like, I'd probably go back to doing drugs.
Aurora Granado:You know? But God saved me, took the spirits of all my evil desires that I had of the world. He took them all away. So like, I'm just so happy who my new identity in the Lord Jesus Christ and who I am and who I'm gonna be. And my daughter, she's so cute too because like, the way I am about God, she's 10 times more fired up for God and it's so cute.
Aurora Granado:Like, and she like, we're over there and she's playing with the kids. She's like, get rid your bibles. You know? I'm like, because she sees me just doing that with all the kids and just speaking life and teaching the kids, you know? Because like, that's all we can do is just teach.
Aurora Granado:Just teach and teach and teach, and I love it. Like, I love talking about God.
John Marshall:I can tell.
Aurora Granado:It's my favorite subject in the world.
John Marshall:Yeah. Absolutely. Mhmm. Well, not to take you off that subject, but I am curious to know more of your story and your experience, particularly in connection to Church at the Park. Mhmm.
John Marshall:So you and your daughter joined our CCS community in May. How did you get connected to us? Yeah. Say, if you're willing, say more. What has been the goodness of the last two months since you've joined our community?
Aurora Granado:Just the resources, you know, the help that they do. And I just feel like deep down inside they actually care, you know? Like they really truly care and they're just so loving and humble and just like, me and my daughter, we love it. You know, like, we love it there. We love the people there, you know, like, it's just And then like, you need help, they're right there.
Aurora Granado:You need transportation, they're right there. You need this, they're like And it's just like, and I've never had support. Like, I've always done it on my own. So like, whether it's family or not, I'm just thankful for the people that God has brought into my life right now to keep me going and keep me uplifted and not like getting weird. Because like, when you don't have the support and stuff like, you start losing hope and you fall again.
Aurora Granado:But I'm thankful for the workers at church at the park from the bottom of my heart because like, they are the reason why I not have hope, but I know people still have heart out there. You know? Because like, I was in the darkness and there, there's nobody that has a heart. You know what I'm saying? I'm not like, it's it's the truth though, you know?
Aurora Granado:Like, they say they do, but reality, they can care less about you. So like, I was losing hope. Like, there's no more good people and then here's resources, church at the park. Could have done that before, but like when you're in drugs and stuff, like, don't really care to do that stuff, you know? So like, yeah.
Aurora Granado:So they've been really helpful and a big part of my life for me to like go up, you know, like with housing and everything, it's it's awesome. Yeah.
John Marshall:One of our assumptions about what it means to be human is that, as you alluded to, it's all about relationship. And one of our biases is that homelessness is a symptom of broken relationship. And so I've been finding myself so so grateful and encouraged and glad to know that your experience of our environment has been one of really positive relationship. I'm wondering, can you just give some shout outs to some of the good people you've met who have proven to you that good people still exist?
Aurora Granado:All of them are so close. Israel, I really like Paul. Tadamika, Keely, they're so cool. And I forgot the the woman that was with Keely, but she's cool too. You know?
Aurora Granado:I forgot her name, but she's so cool. Tyreek, k Tyler, k, Moriah, you know, the ones I don't know their names, but the ones that clean the bathroom. You know, like, they're all just so cool, like, all of them. And there's the new worker. He's really cool too, you know.
Aurora Granado:Like, just all of them are just so awesome and just like, their energy with me at least is is amazing. I see how they are just like with the kids and everybody. They're so patient. Like, it's beautiful. It is so beautiful.
Aurora Granado:Like, I love it. I love all of them.
John Marshall:I'm so glad. And this is a place I'm as I'm listening, wondering, this is is this a place where you feel like your faith gets to grow and be supported and encouraged by those people around you?
Aurora Granado:Yes. Yes. I love it. Because like, actually, Paul, like, when he sees me out there reading my bible, worshiping, and stuff and reading to the kids, he like comes out and he like talks and I get to read it like a bible this last time I read a bible verse to him, so it was cool, you know, like and then like, Tanamiqa, like, they all just love hearing about it and it just makes it it just makes it that much stronger there, you know. Like, actually, they let me put up like bible verses I made when I was in jail, like, to help me get through the the jail life because that was not easy.
Aurora Granado:But they let me put all the bible verses up in my room with tapes. I'm excited about that. That's really cool. So when I go in there, used to see all the bible verses and it just makes me smile because like, that was the only way I was able to get through it, you know. And I like it because like, I'm life and I love speaking life into people and encouragement because there's a lot of like I know when I was on topic, but there's like a lot of doubt, you know?
Aurora Granado:Like, when you're like, when you are this low, you know, and it just helps when there's just that one person that, like, speaks that life and gives you encouragement that you are better and that this is just temporary. Like, our our life and our situation is just temporary and stuff, and we can just get through it. You know, that's what I say. I'm like, everything's just temporary for right now until God says it's permanent. You know?
Aurora Granado:Mhmm.
John Marshall:At the start of our conversation, you mentioned your upcoming job with Amazon as something you're looking forward to.
Aurora Granado:Mhmm.
John Marshall:Is there anything else? Like, what are you hopeful for? What gives you hope these days? What are you excited to experience soon in life?
Aurora Granado:What makes me hopeful is the blessings that are gonna come mine and my kids' way. And me just being able to bless others, you know, like, not with only the word, but like the way I've been blessed, you know, like financially, like help somebody like with money or just like help somebody with like food or just shelter, you know, for the meantime, however God wants. I'm just excited after I get my blessings to just pass the blessing on to everybody else around me.
John Marshall:I'm so encouraged by that. You mentioned it a little earlier how this identity as someone who really really wants to help people at times has been a place of unhealth, and that part of your own learning journey is like, how do I do this in a healthy sustainable way where I have good boundaries and that my identity is still on something deeper and truer than just my impact on others, but I can't get over this fact that your answer to what gives you hope is that you will get to love and serve other people more fully and more deeply. Like, do you do you know how incredible that is to be a human in the world whose first impulse is to think about how can I help other people? That's beautiful, Aurora.
Aurora Granado:It is and that's that's Jesus, you know, like he puts that in me. I've always been that way, but he's made it stronger for me to just give like the love that he would give to other people. Like, wanna get I'm not getting teary because it's it's just a beautiful thing, you know. Because in this world full of hate, we need just that little someone, you know. And it's it's cool because like the people I've came across, like I speak life into them and they're just like, that's so cool.
Aurora Granado:You're so encouraging, you know. And it's like, it's God. It's all God, you know, like, and I like it. I like it so much, you know, like, that I could still be a nurturer in a different way rather than codependency and negativity way. It's more like a positive way.
Aurora Granado:And however that looks, I don't know. Just however God wants it to look, when he wants it and however he wants it. I'm ready for it. You know, I'm so excited.
John Marshall:I'm excited for you. We're coming to the end of our conversation, but I just want, before we wrap up, to ask you for more bits of wisdom, specifically around solutions or responses to the reality of homelessness that you find to be good and helpful. So if you, based on your experience in life, if you were all of a sudden put in charge of solving homelessness and helping other people find their pathway out and designing all the services and where, you know, where money is given and what what projects are funded. Do you have any sense of like where you would begin to start solving the problem?
Aurora Granado:Well, I would go out into the streets and just like speak to everybody differently, you know, like however God puts it in my mouth to like talk to them and, you know, let them know what I went through and how it helped me and how it can help them too. And, you know, just speak life into them and let them know like, it's temporary and it's possible to get out of the homelessness, you know, because we lose hope, you know. And I'll just guide them the way I was guided, you know, like to the resources, the helps and stuff, like gave them like transportation, you know, just whatever they needed for them to truly get out of homelessness. And then, you know, like, just like encourage them for faith in the Lord, you know, because our reality, he's the only way. You know, because like, there's ways for us to get out of homelessness, but we will still have the chaos in our head.
Aurora Granado:And I'm homeless and not having chaos makes it 10 times easier. And I'll let them know that, you know, and God can only remove those voices in your head. And then it'll make it easier, you know. They won't be so focused like on, well, I'm not good enough and then that they discourage themselves rather than, I got this, I can do it, you know. It's just temporary, let's go, you know.
Aurora Granado:So like, that's what I would do is just bring them to resources and to the light of life, you know. Mhmm.
John Marshall:I really like that answer. And I'm also curious as you name, you know, access to resources as one of the pathways out of this experience. I know some people in the world don't think that it's worth funding resources, and I know that there are people who think that it should only be up to an individual to pull themselves up by their own bootstraps, so to speak. What would you say to someone who doesn't see the value of keeping resources available in the world?
Aurora Granado:Well, one thing is it's not easy pulling yourself out of homelessness because I tried for that whole year and a half and I just failed. You know, it's not easy. You need these resources, at least people that need encouragement, you know. It's like the funniest rhythm is beautiful. And speaking from my point, and I'm sure a lot of us, you know, like it really helps, you know?
Aurora Granado:Like, and I know and I understand what they're saying if they think that we can do it on our own because maybe they haven't experienced it or something, you know? But like, you can't do it on your own. You really can't. Like, that's why there's humans, you know? Because we need that support.
Aurora Granado:We need the help from other people. Even though we think we don't, we do. Because at the end of the day, that's what we do. We go for help, you know? Because like, if we try to do it on our own, like for me, like I tried and I failed miserably so bad, you know?
Aurora Granado:And it's like the minute that I was like, okay, I'm done. I'm gonna get help. I'm gonna get sober. I'm gonna do this. I'm gonna do that.
Aurora Granado:I'm gonna see what there is out there. And those resources that are funded is why I'm alive today and I'm happy and I'm not on the streets walking, you know, like sleeping outside or, you know, going hungry, you know, like so, like, my it's like, it's not easy and we need the resource. We need the funding. We need all that help, you know? We really do.
Aurora Granado:So I hope no. Not hope. I know God will keep providing for those that need it, you know? Because he cares about us and the world.
John Marshall:Yeah. God does care. And I'm really encouraged and thankful for your wisdom and your willingness and your courage to say into a microphone that your experience is of a God who cares, and that that perhaps it's worth it for us as humans to model that care for each other. Mhmm. So thank you.
Aurora Granado:Yes. And thank you for having me. I'm so I'm so grateful. And this is a real blessing, you know, like for me to just be on here and just like talk and it's just so cool. I'm just so thankful.
John Marshall:I'm I'm really really glad, Aurora. Before we end, I have 10 rapid fire questions that are intended just to get to know you a little bit more as a unique human being in the world. Are you ready for these questions?
Aurora Granado:Yeah.
John Marshall:Okay. Some of them are silly, some of them are a little bit more meaningful, but we'll just go through them one at a time here. So here we go. Aurora, what is the best dessert?
Aurora Granado:I always like no bake Oreo cheesecake. I love cheesecake in general. That's so good, but also I like apple pie baked with ice cream on top and cinnamon.
John Marshall:Oh my god. That sounds so good right
Aurora Granado:It is so good. Those are my two favorite.
John Marshall:Those are quality answers. Okay. Question number two. A genie grants you one wish. What do you wish for?
Aurora Granado:To have shelter and be with my kids.
John Marshall:Would you rather go back in time and meet your ancestors or travel to the future and meet your descendants?
Aurora Granado:Future and meet my grandkids and descendants, you know.
John Marshall:Why that one?
Aurora Granado:Because going back, like, it's already written, it's already happened, you know. So I wanna go to the future and see what life is and what it's like, and if it's better or if it's just getting worser, but I wanna see what my my grandkids look like.
John Marshall:Okay. Question number four, cats or dogs?
Aurora Granado:Dogs.
John Marshall:Question five, apples or oranges?
Aurora Granado:Honeycrisp apples.
John Marshall:Question six, what is your favorite smell?
Aurora Granado:Well, I like when I would make food, like carne asada mixed with chile and some rice and tortillas made by hand. That's the best smell ever.
John Marshall:Alright. What is one thing you would add to Salem to make it better? God. What piece of advice has helped you the most?
Aurora Granado:Everything's temporary. Nothing's permanent.
John Marshall:What is your favorite thing about yourself?
Aurora Granado:My faith in God and just how loving and humble and how genuine and sincere I care about people. And the love I give, I love that about me. That even though I've gone through like the storm, I'm still this loving woman to everybody. I didn't let it change me. Thank God for that.
John Marshall:I agree. Finally, what is your biggest hope for your future?
Aurora Granado:Well, I really wanna open up a business, a caregiving facility, because I did work with the elderlies who have Alzheimer's and dementia. And I just wanna open one up to know that they will be cared for and treated with respect and love and dignity. Because like when I was there, it was just horrible. I was that one that was telling on everybody. I was like, I wanna open up a facility just to make sure that they're not being harmed or hurt.
Aurora Granado:You know, that's what I wanna do. It's the nurturer in me.
John Marshall:I love it. I so hope that you do open a facility someday.
Aurora Granado:I really want to.
John Marshall:Yeah. Absolutely. At least start
Aurora Granado:off little, like, two rooms and then make it bigger. Know?
John Marshall:There you go. Yeah. There you go. Little little at a time.
Aurora Granado:Mhmm.
John Marshall:Well, again, Aurora, thank you again so much for your time today. Thank you for sharing your story. As you said it yourself, you are someone who's been through the storm, but you've not allowed that storm to change you. You've instead allowed your pain to be redeemed and transformed, and you are someone who continues to carry so much compassion for other humans and so much desire to see other humans loved well and healed and restored to their identity as beloved children of God.
Aurora Granado:Mhmm. Amen. Yes.
John Marshall:You.
Aurora Granado:Thank you.
John Marshall:Yeah. And thank you listeners for joining us for this episode of the humanity of homelessness. Thanks again to Aurora for her vulnerability and courage to share her story. We hope her life serves as testimony to the rest of us that there is always good news to celebrate in hard places and that all of our neighbors are worth our time and attention. If you'd like to remain connected with us at Church of the Park, please visit our website at church@thepark.org.
John Marshall:There you can find opportunities to volunteer, subscribe to our newsletter, and weekly liturgy reflections, and stay in the know about our current and future projects. We also have an online portal for financial giving. If you have questions for us or want to connect for a cup of coffee, we have lots of team members who would love to pay for your cup. Email us at info@churchatthepark.org. That's info,info,@churchatthepark.org.
John Marshall:Thanks y'all. Until next time.