Teyauna’s Story: When Everything Falls Apart, and the Fight to Begin Again

In this week’s episode of Unseen Atlanta, we hear Teyauna’s moving story. When everything began to fall apart, she found herself pregnant, alone, and with nowhere to turn. What felt like rock bottom led her through the doors of Atlanta Mission.  

Teyauna shares the raw reality of experiencing homelessness while pregnant and navigating mental health challenges. But she also reveals how faith, community, and a safe space helped her find the courage to begin again. 

You’ll also hear again from Dr. Jill Pable, a national expert on trauma-informed design, as she explains why physical spaces matter in healing from trauma, and how Atlanta Mission is leading the way in trauma-informed spaces. 

Transcript

Teyauana_Audio Only 
 

Teyauana: I didn't want what was happening to be happening. I'm losing my house. I already lost my car. I'm pregnant. I'm finna be homeless. I can't go home. And it was just. The lowest feeling I ever felt in my life. I do not wanna go back to that place. I was not myself. I was very, very upset. I was mad at God even for letting this stuff happen to me. 

Teyauana: Like it shouldn't be this way, especially when you're trying to do everything for it not to happen. But for some reason, God wanted to be, wanted me to be an Atlanta mission, and I didn't find that to be true until I got to my sister's house.  

Rachel: Hi. Welcome to Unseen Atlanta and Atlanta Mission Podcast, where we shine light on some of the city's toughest issues. 

Rachel: We share true stories from real people who are experiencing homelessness and addiction. We're also gonna bring you insights from experts who give us some context to some of these issues. I'm Rachel Reynolds, and I'm one of your hosts.  

Jonathan: And I'm Jonathan Miller, your co-host,  

Rachel: and we talked to Tiana today. 

Jonathan: Yes. What really stuck out to me is like just the situation she was in, nowhere to go pregnant,  

Rachel: Uhhuh and  

Jonathan: all the, the fear and the shame.  

Rachel: Mm-hmm.  

Jonathan: And all the feelings that go with that. I can't imagine.  

Rachel: I think also too, something that she talks a lot about is mental health and how her mental health really kind of. 

Rachel: Spiraled at different points in her life. And so I think that really resonates. And I wanted to, we wanted to make sure our listeners knew kind of, we talk about a lot of different phases of our program. We talk, we use a lot of acronyms. Um, so we kind of wanted to let you guys know the phases of our program, kind of how it works. 

Rachel: You're gonna hear Tiana talk about this. So Restoration house is what we call our front door services, and that is the first 30 days of our program. During that time, they, you'll hear it in a lot of our interviews with, um, the women. They get to rest. Mm-hmm. They get to relax. They get to really kind of stabilize themselves. 

Rachel: Yeah. And the, that is really the first two phases of our program called Find Hope and Choose help.  

Jonathan: Yeah.  

Rachel: Then from there and from  

Jonathan: there, our women, after they choose help, they'll move over to my sister's house where they'll enter into what we call make progress. That is the phase. So we go from find hope. 

Jonathan: To choose help to make progress and in make progress. That's where our clients spend the majority of their time working from the inside out. Yeah. Who they are as people. Mm-hmm. And then. Yeah, they'll, they'll work outward towards vocational training. Yep. And so that part of our program we call next steps. 

Jonathan: Yep. Which actually happens back at Restoration House. So, um, Tiana even talked about how, oh, that was cool. She. Kept seeing these people dressed up. All professional. Yeah. And here she is in a homeless shelter and she has no idea who these people are, but they're screaming and they're dancing and they're celebrating. 

Jonathan: And she's like, what the heck is going on? Um, because  

Rachel: she's just entered the doors. So Restoration House was designed as. A picture of the beginning and end of our services. So the beginning people coming in right off the street, but they're also seeing people at the end of their program who are coming dressed for work, going through our vocational training. 

Rachel: So it's really this holistic picture of the beginning and end of the program. And honestly, that provides a lot of hope for people.  

Jonathan: Yeah. And they, they're, they see them and they're like, I want to be there.  

Rachel: Yes.  

Jonathan: I want to get there. I'm gonna do whatever it takes.  

Rachel: Yeah.  

Jonathan: Yeah.  

Rachel: Um, so yeah, so we talk about a lot of different. 

Rachel: Places a lot of different things. Wanted to give you guys some context to that. The next step program they're in, and they'll get a job out of that, and then they'll move into the final phase of our program called Sustain and Grow. And you know what? We named it after what it is you're gonna sustain and grow. 

Jonathan: Yeah. The goal is to never come back.  

Rachel: Yes. We never wanna see you again unless you're volunteering or wanna come back and say hi. So in the sustain and grow portion, that's where they're gonna find a job, find housing. They can stay with us in some transitional housing for a period of time, but that's really the phases of our program. 

Rachel: Yeah. But back to Tiana. Let's hear her story. Yeah,  

Jonathan: let's dive in. All right, let's  

Rachel: do it.  

Jonathan: Let's just start from the beginning. Okay. Tell us about. Uh, where you're from, your childhood, what was it like growing up?  

Teyauana: I'm from Atlanta. I was born at Grady Hospital, 1994. Um, I grew up mostly in my early childhood in East Point. 

Teyauana: Fast forward to like fourth, third, fourth or fifth grade, we moved to the west side of Atlanta, and from there we transferred to a Vaseline eat Usher. Which was really, really, uh, different for me 'cause we didn't have to wear uniforms anymore. It was a more relaxed, laid back community. Um, but it was really, really fun and exciting. 

Teyauana: While I was there, I got transferred into the gifted program and that kind of changed the culture of my classes because I was taking classes, were older kids, um, and stuff like that. Then after that went to. Harper Archer Middle School, and then on to Frederick Douglas High School where I graduated from. 

Rachel: What was your home life like?  

Teyauana: Fun, structured, and. Just kind of family oriented for the most part. I remember most of my childhood, we were very close to family, so I was always at my cousin's house or my auntie's house on the weekends. But yeah, just it was, um, really, really structured. I say because once I hit middle school, I start playing sports. 

Teyauana: So. In sixth grade. Sixth grade, seventh grade. Seventh grade, I believe I started playing basketball. I did that all the way through my high school career. But in high school I also added on other sports. 'cause for training for basketball, we had to run cross country beforehand. That was really, really hard. 

Teyauana: Um, after that basketball season came up, 11th grade year, I kind of got into volleyball. Did ROTC for a little bit.  

Rachel: Wow. So you were just like all into the extracurricular activities? Pretty  

Teyauana: much. And I rounded off my year with track and field, which is also very fun. I got met a lot of different people. Got to travel a little bit. 

Teyauana: Um, with the sports community, I was, I was very involved in my high school and I liked to be an honor student, so I wanted to keep that up 'cause I wanted to get into a really good school, um, college that is. Yeah. So  

Rachel: after high school, did you go to college?  

Teyauana: Uh, yes. I went to Fort Valley State University. 

Teyauana: But I only went for a year, studied animal science 'cause I wouldn't be a veterinarian, but that didn't work out. 'cause I have a really bad allergy to pets. Like I can do like one or two. I didn't notice that either. I mean, because my dad bred dogs, so I would be around a couple dogs every now and again. 

Teyauana: Okay. But when it got to the different types of animals. Okay. I couldn't be in that type of environment. Like I can't be horses, goats, pigs, dogs, cats. Yeah. I can't do too many different pets. I would break out in hives. So why'd you only stay a year? I just didn't wanna go back. I didn't have the passion for veterinary to be, to be a veterinarian anymore, and I didn't know what else I wanted to do, and I didn't wanna be the student that just kind of. 

Teyauana: Stay just to stay. I wanted to be there for a purpose. Yeah. And I didn't know what that was. So I came back home and started working. I met my daughter's father. Um, my daughter's name is Ali, her father's name is Elle. And we got together and kind of lived a really, really happy life for about. Five years or so. 

Teyauana: Um, we were together, um, we moved to East Point for a little bit, not East Point, I'm sorry. We were living in Stone Mountain. We got a house in Stone Mountain, lived there. Um, raised my daughter for the first four years of her life. There. Um, ran into some financial troubles. Um, we kind of broke up and split off. 

Teyauana: I went back home to my mom and he went back home to his, um, but during that split up, I couldn't take my daughter with me, unfortunately at the time because I really didn't have a place to go. Um, my mom's house was full, my grandma's house was full, family houses were full, so I really didn't have nowhere to go. 

Teyauana: I actually ended up living with my grandmother for a little bit for about a year, and I got back on my feet and I got my own house and I got a car. This was 2023? Yeah. Okay. 2023 I had a house and a car.  

Rachel: And is your daughter with her dad at this point?  

Teyauana: Mm-hmm.  

Rachel: Okay. Yep. Are you still seeing her? Mm-hmm.  

Teyauana: Okay. 
 

Teyauana: I just seen her, her pa her birthday was November 11th. Okay. So that's the last, well in person. That was the last time I seen her. I just FaceTimed her, um, last night. So she's doing wonderful. How did you end up at Atlanta Mission? Well, in the beginning of 2024, um, I fell behind on bills because. Honestly, transparently I was smoking and I shouldn't have been doing that because that messed with my mind and I do have a mental health history. 

Teyauana: So that kind of made it come up again, and I ended up going to Peachford. Uh, hospital Okay. For about a week. And they helped me kind of get my mom back. Right. But even when I left, for me, my experience with, I was diagnosed with major depressive disorder Okay. And schizophrenia. So with my schizophrenia, the voices got really, really loud. 

Teyauana: Mm-hmm. And I couldn't decipher whether they were Yeah. Real or not. And that was very scary to me.  

Rachel: Is that something you've always experienced growing up?  

Teyauana: I didn't experience that until I started smoking heavily. And that became, that came in a part of my life where I was going through topical steroid withdrawal. 

Teyauana: I don't know if you know what that is, but I grew up with eczema, so it was kind of really hard doing that part growing up. 'cause. Kids are mean.  

Rachel: Yeah. And  

Teyauana: my skin was really, really bad when I was young.  

Rachel: Yeah.  

Teyauana: Really bad. So, um, I was very insecure when I was young, even though I played all these sports and became active. 

Teyauana: That was just a way of me to not. Yeah, focus on my skin and a way for me to still be social. 'cause I didn't wanna ostracize myself 'cause that just made me lonely.  

Rachel: So you had been on topical steroids for a long time?  

Teyauana: For about when I stopped doing it, I was like 18, 19.  

Rachel: Okay.  

Teyauana: Yeah, no, when I came back from college, so I was 18, came back, I was 19. 

Teyauana: So about 19, between 19 and 20. Actually is when I stopped using the topical steroids since it's a steroid. Yeah. Um, it's a cortisol, it puts your body into, um, a fight or flight, basically. Yeah. And it's a stress hormone. And if you get too much of that and the body, of course it'll make it look okay on the outside, but on the inside you're not getting to the root problem. 

Teyauana: And when I found that out, I had to change a lot about myself. Okay. I had to change the things that I eat. I ate growing up, but I was still going through topical steroid withdrawal. So when you go through withdrawal, you can't stop it. And it was very new to me and my parents, and we kind of clashed at that point in my life too, because they wanted me to go back to the doctor. 

Teyauana: And I necessarily didn't trust the doctors because of the, um, overuse of steroids growing up to. Mask a problem that was much more internal. Um, so I wanted to do it myself. I wanted to go natural and it took a minute. Um, I was dealing with withdrawal for about three years during that withdrawal period. I did have my daughter at that time, so, um, the beginning of her early childhood. 

Teyauana: I kind of had to stay at home. I really couldn't work. Um, it interfered with my work, the withdrawal, 'cause I did it. When I came back from college. I did work at the airport, but once I started going through withdrawal, I couldn't work at the job that I was working at because my skin was shedding really, really bad. 

Teyauana: I was still having, um, episodes I couldn't smoke. Um, that's one of the things they told me not to do because it will interfere with the medications that I was on. But after about. In three, four months of taking the medications, it still wasn't helping it. My voices were really, really loud and it was really hard to deal with, and that kind of impeded on our relationship as well. 

Teyauana: I was very insecure. I was very in home. I loved being a mom. I think that was the only happy time that I had. During that whole process of being able to just be there to take care of my daughter. But I remember it got to a point where after, um, my diagnosis and after I've been, had been home still trying to recover and stuff for a while, I remember my daughter was like two and uh, I went back. 

Teyauana: To the hospital. So this is like a year later, I went back to Peachford to get my diagnosis to see if it's everything's okay or not. Okay. And so it wasn't okay. I ended up staying a month there that time because I didn't wanna be there. I, I hate hospitals. I really do. I hate hospitals and mental hospitals. 

Teyauana: They have a stigma of being like a crazy house, right? So that made me uncomfortable too. But they were expressing to me that my symptoms. Needed to be maintained in that area, in that situation. So I ended up staying a whole month. I missed my daughter's birthday, I missed her third birthday, and that was very sad to me. 

Teyauana: And I didn't have nowhere to go because my parents was like, you need to stay there. Everybody told me you need to be there. And I didn't wanna be there even though the voices were loud. Even though I didn't understand what was going on, I just really had this really big fear of hospitals and that something was gonna happen to me and it just wouldn't go the way that I thought it was gonna go. 

Teyauana: So I stayed there for a month. I ended up getting discharged early because I. I, I was going through a program, but the, I didn't like the medications that they were giving me 'cause they were kind of just trying stuff, um, to see what would happen. But I didn't like the after effects. Like, I had really bad tremors. 

Teyauana: I couldn't write my name for a while. I had really bad, bad blurred vision. After that. The, the voices got lower, but I couldn't still function. Like, I couldn't keep my focus. I didn't like the fact that I couldn't read what I was, I couldn't read, I couldn't write. I, Lily had to like kind of start over and when I left the hospital I went to go live with Shaquille. 

Teyauana: So that was a rebuilding period for us too, trying to cope with everything that had happened up until that point in there. So I get my life back together. Um, after being a caregiver for my grandmother, I stayed up enough money to get my own apartment and my car. I was working at Amazon and Olive Garden, and I think I was driving Lyft Foot on the side to, okay, get extra money. 

Rachel: How was your mental health at this time?  

Teyauana: It was fun.  

Rachel: Okay.  

Teyauana: I didn't have any problems after that. Were you managing with medication? Yes. For a little bit, but then no, after that. Okay. I kind of self-managed. Okay. Using, implementing the things that they taught us in Peachford at Peachford. Okay. They talked about coping mechanisms, journaling, writing, um, getting out in nature, talking to family and friends. 

Teyauana: I did that very often in journaling. I did journaling a lot too to help kind of bring everything that was going on in my mind. On paper, so kind of actually understand what I'm actually feeling going through. What are my thoughts and why is this happening? Um, and that helped. So I didn't have an episode for a while. 

Teyauana: Okay. Like, like some years. And then you ever get to a point of success where you feel comfortable mm-hmm. And yet you still feel unfulfilled. Mm-hmm. Um, I got to that point where I had everything. Um, not everything. 'cause I wanted my daughter with me and I didn't have her with me either. So I think that was part of my fulfillment. 

Teyauana: I didn't have, and I think I started smoking again to fill to, to fulfill that need. Um, and it kind of made it worse. So, um, I remember I did that like two days. First two days were okay. Third day voices got real loud and I had to go to work that morning. And mind you, I worked at Amazon, so I worked. My sort that I worked is four 30 in the morning to about three in the afternoon. 

Teyauana: So I had to be there pretty really early and my mom was really talking to me that morning. I went into work and I couldn't handle it, so I left. Um, I just walked out. Because I couldn't handle it. I called my parents, tried to talk to them and let them know what was going on. Um, they reassured me that everything is okay, but I just probably needed a day to myself and to not go back to that. 

Teyauana: My mom def definitely did gimme a scolding after that. Like Tiana, you know, you can't do that. Other people can do it, but you can't do it. And I think the peer pressure thing kind of was there too. 'cause I was making friends at work that were engaged in those type of activities and they can do it and they're fine. 

Teyauana: And I'm like, okay. I'm fine. I don't have those episodes more, I think I can do it too. But no, I can't do that. So now I'm very adamant on not smoking at all 'cause it's not my best self that will be reflected after that. But after that, um, I decided to, um, quit Amazon and drive full lift full time because I could figure I could make more money. 

Teyauana: Now, mind you. And during this time period as well, I'm behind on my bills, so, um, 'cause I have to go to the doctor and stay for prolonged periods of time. Mm-hmm. So I'm missing work, missing money behind on rent. Um, and I think I switched to doing Lyft full time. Uh, find out I was pregnant. In late January of 2024? 

Teyauana: Yes. Of 2024. Thank you.  

Rachel: I know I'm getting our time. Okay. 2024, January, you find out you're pregnant.  

Teyauana: Yes. I found out I was pregnant. Unfortunately, the father did not want the baby. Okay. And I was scared. And I called my mom and she yelled at me. She said, Tiana, you gotta do what you gotta do now because you can't go back. 

Teyauana: And I was really, really scared about to lose my apartment. I kept driving Lyft, but I remember a week later I got totaled my car. So I didn't have the Lyft job no more. Um, it took me a month of looking for jobs to realize that, hey, you're not gonna catch up on this rent at all. Called my mom. My mom had my sister, my big bro, my little brother had moved back in and my little brother was still there. 

Teyauana: They only got a three bedroom, so they didn't have room for me. I couldn't go back to my grandmother's house because she lives in a senior si senior assisted living place. Mm-hmm. And you have to be like. 50, 65, 55 up to live there. And I didn't wanna get my grandma put up, put out because that could potentially happen. 

Teyauana: And my other grandma, they didn't have room for me either there, so I was literally SOL as they would say. Yeah. Um, and my mom said, find a shelter. Find a shelter. Tiana, you need to because we can't help you right now.  

Jonathan: I, I wanna jump in. No, no, sir. When, when your mom said that to you  

Teyauana: mm-hmm.  

Jonathan: And you heard your, her say, find a shelter. 

Teyauana: Mm-hmm.  

Jonathan: How did that feel?  

Teyauana: Heartbreaking. That's not something I wanted to hear at all. At that time. I wanted to go home, um, like everything's crumbling around me and I'm not in a good mental head space, and all this stuff is happening, like literally one after another. And it was very shocking to hear that your mother tell you found a shelter. 

Rachel: If you made it this far into the episode, you're likely feeling the weight of these stories unseen. Atlanta was created to reveal the raw and unfiltered realities faced by individuals in our city struggles with addiction, homelessness, and mental health challenges. It's heavy, but don't stop. Now we're about to turn the page to something life. 

Rachel: Life-changing. Hope is coming. When someone steps through our doors, they step into an opportunity to start fresh. The transformation you're about to hear wouldn't be possible without incredible partners like the Justin. Landis group, whether you're buying or selling a home in metro Atlanta, their unwavering commitment to exceptional service and authentic relationships sets 'em apart. 

Rachel: Their compassion and dedication to our community fuels stories of hope, just like these. A heartfelt thank you to our partner and sponsor, Justin Landis Group, because of your generosity, these stories don't end here. Now let's dive back into the episode.  

Jonathan: So she says, find a shelter. Um, you're processing that. 

Jonathan: Do you just start researching? How did you find Restoration House?  

Teyauana: I had almost been close to homelessness before when I was living with my grandma previously because like I said, she lives in a senior assisted living place. I didn't wanna stay there for as long as I did 'cause I was, every day I was in jeopardy of getting her put out. 

Teyauana: So I was looking up shelters. Um, I found Restoration House during that time, but I didn't go. This time around I was like, I really need to go. Mm-hmm. So, um, I think a week later. Um, I had a roommate at the time too, and I didn't wanna bring her down in all this situation either, so I let her know, Hey, an eviction may be coming, so we have to move. 

Teyauana: I'm planning on moving out. And she said, okay, cool. Thanks for letting me, um, know ahead of time. Yeah, I said A week later she moved out and that Monday, um, I went to restoration house, um, waited outside. I went in and gave them my information and. I still didn't wanna be there. And they told me that, okay, if you come, we do have a bed available for you, but you have to move in like today or tomorrow and you can only bring two bags worth of stuff. 

Teyauana: And that was defeating to me too. 'cause like I have a whole house full of stuff. Like I have a whole house full of stuff that I have to get rid of. But I didn't have none. I didn't have a choice. So. I said, okay, my roommate gave me last month's rent, which is on, well, just her part of it. And then she even threw me a little extra 'cause she knew my circumstances. 

Teyauana: And I used that to rent a car through Lyft. And I was still driving Lyft around that time too. But then they told me, you can't have a job. And I'm like, uh, I can't have a job. Um, I need money like. I, I can't like quit my job, but she was like, well, it's one of the requirements of being here. You can't have a job. 

Teyauana: And that was a hard pill to swallow too, because I didn't wanna be out. In the cold, either or, you know, it was hot or not time. I didn't wanna be out either, so I really had to weigh my options and I didn't. I really, really didn't have any. And that was frustrating in itself. So the next day I went back to my apartment and I packed up everything that I could in my two little bags. 

Teyauana: It was the most heartbreaking time for me. 'cause everything kind of. Was settling in to me. For me, I was very, very upset. I didn't wanna do it. I didn't wanna do it. And I remember I had a mental, I had a mental breakdown when I got there. I remember I pulled up to Elle's house and his mom was sitting outside in her car, not paying me no mind, but like I said, my mind is loud. 

Teyauana: So, um, kind of yelling at myself and I just started screaming. I started screaming and yelling and acting a whole fool because I didn't want what was happening to be happening. I. I'm losing my house. I already lost my car. I'm pregnant. I'm finna be homeless. I can't go home. And it was just the lowest feeling I ever felt in my life. 

Teyauana: Lord, I do not wanna go back to that. I do not wanna go back to that place. I was not myself. I was very, very upset. I was mad at God even for letting this stuff happen to me. Like it shouldn't be this way, especially when you're. Trying to do everything for it not to happen. I'm working extra shifts. I'm doing this, I'm running around from three in the morning to about 12 in the night, next day and waking up and doing the same thing. 

Teyauana: But for some reason, God wanted to be, wanted me to be at Atlanta Mission and I didn't find that to be true until I got to my sister's house. So all throughout my stay in Atlanta where the restoration house, I had to sit down and that was hard. Hmm. To sit down with your own thoughts. Mm-hmm. And think back to what led you to that spot and have to be okay with it or not okay with it, but just have to take accountability for what got you there. 

Teyauana: And it was really hard dealing with a lot of women, but I was surprised at how. Clean. Everything looked  

Rachel: inside. I know it is. It's a little shocking when you walk in. It is, I call it the Ritz Carlton of homeless shelters. It definitely is. It's really nice. It's nicer. I always have to give that disclaimer to everyone. 

Rachel: I'm like. Not all of them look like this.  

Teyauana: No, not at all. That when they told me That's the newer version Yeah. Of like the, just the newest building of, of the Atlanta mission. I was like, really? Yeah. I I was like, this is really nice. It is. It's, it's so nice.  

Rachel: Now, what were those first 30 days like? Mm. How pregnant were you at this point? 

Teyauana: Not very pregnant. I think I was like a month. Okay. And  

Rachel: a half.  

Teyauana: I didn't have ob, I didn't have a doctor, I didn't even have Medicaid at that time. Did they help you get that? I already kind of knew where to go. Okay. But they did provide the resources, like if you needed to?  

Rachel: Yeah.  

Teyauana: You can. They tell you where to go. 

Teyauana: Mm-hmm. Who to call, stuff like that. But the first 30 days was very hard. It made me thankful, um, because I had shelter. Hot shower and food. Those little things matter a lot, especially when you go outside of the restoration house and you still see, um, men and women who choose outside homelessness in their own way. 

Teyauana: Like, I don't wanna be that homeless. I want to really change my circumstances. I don't wanna just be out on a bus stop. Mm-hmm. With a big old cart full of stuff, trying to stay warm when it gets cold or trying to find a, a quiet place to sleep. I don't, I don't wanna be that homeless, so I was grateful to be out not on the street. 

Rachel: How were the voices in your head?  

Teyauana: They were still there. Very much so. I pretty much stayed to myself most of the time just observing, um, new people, um, coming in, um, participating in classes, um, being able to, um, share. That helped a lot. That helped a lot actually. Being able to share, um, listening to other women's stories was very, um, eye opening and humbling at the same time because you think. 

Teyauana: This is the end all, be all. Like I'm living the worst life in the world. But then you hear somebody else's story from childhood up until now, and it's way worse. It just makes you rethink your circumstances. Like it's not as bad as you think it is, it's really not. Um, and really trying to accept that for yourself, um, because some people. 

Teyauana: I've, I've noticed sometimes people get really, um, selfish in mindset and think about me, me, me, me, me. There's a lot of mes that come through Restoration house. But when you get in a group setting, it's not me anymore. It's us and as women, us being social creatures, um, it's a little bit easier for us to open up when we have somebody kind of going through the same thing. 

Teyauana: Um, and it. Also helps us empathize with ourselves to not be so hard on ourselves. 'cause I think that's what keeps it a me, me, me thing. 'cause you're kind of talking down to yourself most of the time. Like, how did I let this happen? Why did I do that? And all this other stuff that really doesn't help your, your life or your story. 

Teyauana: It just makes it really dim in your mind.  

Jonathan: Were you surprised at the community that was forming? Yes. With these women.  

Teyauana: Yeah. Progressing through Atlanta Mission. Most definitely at Restoration House alone, just waking up every day and hearing people cheering and laughing. I know it's loud  

Rachel: up in there. Yes, it does get loud. 

Teyauana: And, um, now that I'm in next steps, I remember when I was at Restoration House. Coming in, we have to sit downstairs and the next steps, people come upstairs and we always wonder what are they, what are they cheering about? What are they dancing? What are they chanting up there? And we just see 'em in their business. 

Teyauana: Clothes walk by when we're going through lunch and stuff like that. And I'm just like, oh, okay. Uh, I didn't know who they were at the time. I just seen some people walking through, but it was like, yeah, they made it to like, almost toward the end of the, um, the program. And I was like, oh, okay. And then when they, we were talking to our counselors or advocates, I forgot what they call 'em at Restoration House, about choosing help and was it, find hope, choose help,  

Rachel: make progress. 

Teyauana: Thank you. Moving on to make progress.  

Rachel: Yeah.  

Teyauana: And you have that choice. Yeah. Whether just to stay the 30 days or do you want to continue to keep going? And in my predicament, I said I'm going for the long run.  

Rachel: Yeah.  

Teyauana: I'm, I'm here.  

Rachel: Well, and you, you had legacy, your son. Mm-hmm. At.  

Teyauana: My sister's house. My sister's house. 

Teyauana: Mm-hmm.  

Rachel: How was that experience?  

Teyauana: I was prepared by the time I actually didn't because, um, I finished my classes before. Yeah. That's why I made it to next steps, um, like right afterwards. But going through the classes helped prepare me for that part 'cause I was able to express. Um, and my process in classes with Ms. 

Teyauana: Shea and Ms. Pat, uh, about concerns that I had, and then hearing feedback, um, like going to the hospital and not being treated well, or having CPS come take your baby or your baby might die, or something like that. I don't, I don't know, just those concerns of being in a hospital setting. Mm-hmm. I was able to express my fears. 

Teyauana: Yeah. And get comfort. Get reassurance and, and get women to, um. To come around me and, and really kind of lift me up and make me not scared of the process, but just know that, hey, it's okay what you're going through. It's okay. I've had those fears too, going to the hospital with my baby. I've had those fears too, being by myself without the father. 

Teyauana: I've had those fears too, just. Thinking that you're just thinking that you're alone and you're not having that support is, is really what helped me. Mm-hmm. Um, prepare for that day. And by the time it actually came, I was ready. I'm tired of being pregnant and being right. I was wobbling everywhere. My friends would walk past me and be like, Ooh, we wobbling together. 

Teyauana: And I'm like, stop. You're not wobbly. I'm wobbly. It was, uh, it was hard. Yeah. 'cause it hurt, hurt.  

Rachel: But you were able to bring him back to my sister's house. Mm-hmm. I can imagine. He's probably like, he runs that place.  

Teyauana: You  
 

Rachel: know what? I bet they love him.  

Teyauana: They do.  

Rachel: Yeah.  

Teyauana: Yeah, and he knew where he was. I remember coming home, it was crazy coming home from the hospital. 

Teyauana: Like the day after my birthday, we stayed two nights 'cause he was born at 3:00 AM Okay. On the 29th. So we stayed the 29th and then the 30th and we were able to come home the next day and he was crying the whole time, like the whole time crying on the way back to my sister's house. But as soon as we pulled up in the driveway of my sister's house, he just stopped crying. 

Rachel: Hmm. He said, I'm home.  

Teyauana: Apparently he's  

Rachel: like, um, he's like, they're gonna love me here. That they knew he was getting good vibes.  

Teyauana: Yeah. The whole time all the women would be like, oh my God, legacy. I can't wait for you to be here. They wanna rub and touch my tummy and be like, oh, I can't wait for you to have 'em like me too. 

Teyauana: I'm tired of being pregnant. But when we got there, we got, we came back to love and support. Good. And luckily before he came, I was able to move to a designated room for mothers.  

Rachel: Great. Yeah. So you felt, you felt support. Mm-hmm.  

Jonathan: Exactly. Yeah. How is your, 'cause your next steps now? Mm-hmm. So. Legacy goes to childcare, right? 

Jonathan: Yes, he does. How is, how is that experience? How are the, his teachers?  

Teyauana: Initially I was very skeptical. I didn't want that to happen. Mm-hmm. I wanted to be with him every of course, second of the day. But once, uh, I remember the first day I dropped him off, um, and I met my, um, met his teacher. She was a sweet lady. 

Teyauana: She really is. She's so sweet. And then like a couple days later they got a new, uh, lady to help. Like a support teacher. Yeah. And she introduced herself to me. 'cause we just happened to meet her outside and she was real nice too. So, and she was like, I can't wait to meet. I can't wait to meet him. 'cause he was still like young. 

Teyauana: I think he was like four, five weeks maybe before he actually went in there. But they got to see him in passing. But they, they treat him like. Oh, like he's their own. Oh, for sure. For sure. I  

Rachel: can only imagine.  

Teyauana: They  
 

Rachel: love those babies,  

Teyauana: man. I love those babies. All those babies that come through there. And the fact that we're getting more now, I think we have three young ladies that are pregnant and expecting. 

Teyauana: Wow. Two of them in my room literally just had babies within the past two weeks, so. It's like baby fever for sure at my sister's house, and it's amazing. Um, I miss all the pain and heartache and frustration that the women go through there, inside and outside of my sister's house. You to see little babies give hope. 

Teyauana: I know they give a lot of hope and reassurance and smiles, and they're just so loving. Even when I seen my baby, I was happy. I, I got really happy after that.  

Rachel: But it's so true. There's something about like new life and innocence that totally changes a space. Mm-hmm. And especially with what you're saying, like. 

Rachel: You would think a homeless shelter would be a place that has a lot of sadness and hardships and which there's all those things. But I think that's what's so cool about my Sister's house is there's something so unique about the space of having all the kids there with you because it gives you this like sense of hope. 

Rachel: Mm-hmm. It gives you a sense of purpose. Mm-hmm. And it really shows you that like. At the end of the day, you hope that for these little kids, their life is totally different. Most definitely. So I think that that's something that's so unique about our spaces, and particularly my sister's house. I like it. I love kids'. 

Rachel: And I think your story really shows that of like how you were at your lowest point. Mm-hmm. But growing a new life, which is supposed to be one of the happiest times in your life, right? You end up at a homeless shelter and it can seem like, it could be a really not positive experience, but it's very disheartening. 

Rachel: Legacy's now running the childcare center, especially to like you showing there's so many. Moms out there, especially at my sister's house, we have babies born all the time. Yeah. And I think that's something people don't understand about homelessness is it is like a lot of people end up homeless when they're pregnant. 

Rachel: Yeah. And um, they do. And so I think way more than I thought about. Yeah,  

Teyauana: totally. I didn't think about home being in a homeless shelter at all. And my mom, like before I became homeless, my mom gave to the homeless. She still does. Um, she gives to the homeless. So I usually. I don't, I didn't see a lot of homelessness in with like mothers with children being homeless. 

Teyauana: I didn't see a lot of that growing up. Yeah. But as I got older, I had to, um, I saw the reality of the world and people go through struggles, and then me becoming one of those people is definitely different. Yeah. What I thought about when I was younger too.  

Jonathan: So Tiana. Mm-hmm. What does the future look like for you? 

Teyauana: Honestly right now getting, trying to get through next steps. I'm going to get through next steps.  

Rachel: Yeah. Not trying. Nope. Come on.  

Teyauana: Mm-hmm. You are. I'm gonna name it and claim it next. Yep. And I got two weeks left. Yes girl. And I'm finna put in the work to make sure I get to the end. Mm-hmm. Um, we'll be at your graduation. 

Teyauana: We'll come to your graduation. Yeah. Oh, please. I can't wait to see, uh, what it's like. 'cause I've been hearing the previous cohorts do their graduations. Yeah. You're gonna love it. And I'm really trying to get SOE. So send out eligible That's right. Yep. Send out eligible. Mm-hmm. Yep. Try really trying to get SOE but, uh, honestly, after next steps, um, I want to, um, go into childcare, um, work at a daycare, get in my CDA so that I can start my own in-home daycare. 

Teyauana: Great. Because that's my, my later goal. My aunt inspired me on that because, um, she had one when I was growing up. Um, she doesn't anymore, unfortunately, but I remember going over her house and seeing her in home daycare and how it was set up and then having my own child at home, or my first daughter at home. 

Teyauana: I like that part. Setting up the posters. Yeah, and getting the tables together. Having a area to play arts and crafts. Helping them learn their ABCs, their one, two threes. I was teaching my daughter Spanish and sign language when she was like two and three, so that was really fun. Yeah, seeing how easily they catch on and how fun you can make it. 

Teyauana: You'll for sure do  

Rachel: that. Yeah, we're excited. It'll be  

Jonathan: great. We're  

Rachel: gonna follow, I think we're gonna follow along on your journey. Yeah. I'm excited to see you graduate. I'm excited to see where you go. I'm excited to. I wanna ring that bell. Yeah. Oh, ring that bell. Girl, you ring that bell. Thanks for sharing your story. 

Rachel: Nope, I appreciate it. That's having me, I really, um, I think this is, I think the people listening are gonna really love hearing your story. You have so much resiliency in yourself and you sound like an amazing mom. Thank you. The future's really bright for you, so I appreciate you. Sharing your story and taking the time. 

Rachel: Yeah. We hope you guys enjoy that story. I know we did. So grateful for the generosity of these stories. And right now we wanna bring you another subject matter expert. To give a little context to this story. We have someone who's a great friend of Atlanta Mission. She has worked with us in the past and helped build restoration house. 

Rachel: She is an expert in homeless trauma-informed design. So we are excited to have Dr. Jill Pable here today. Hey. Hi there. How are you? Good. How are you doing? I'm doing great. Thank you. Thanks for having me on. We'd love for you to introduce yourself and tell a little bit about what you do. I know she just retired. 

Rachel: You just retired in August, but had a long career. So we'd love for you to tell us about that.  

Yeah. My background is in architecture and interior design, and my area of research is trauma-informed design and looking at built environments for, uh, people who ha are in crisis, whether they are, uh, experiencing homelessness or other types of things. 

I worked for Florida State University for 19 years, having just retired in August, and before that I was a. Tenured, uh, associate professor in California State University, Sacramento, and prior to that in Missouri. So been here, there and everywhere. But I also, uh, started a nonprofit organization called Design Resources for Homelessness, and its purpose is to translate and curate needful research for support organizations. 

The public and, um, government leaders and student researchers on how to build in a way that best supports people who are in crisis. Hmm. So it's been very rewarding and it's taken me all over the United States and Europe. Um, looking at how people build and offering, uh, lectures and so forth on how we might be able to do that better. 

Rachel: Well, I know you did work with us through Restoration House, so we'd love to talk a little bit more, a little bit more with you about why it's important to have. Trauma in informed spaces.  

I think what we're talking about here is trauma-informed design. Trauma-informed design still isn't quite jelled yet, I would say, but it arose from the trauma-informed care movement in psychology and social work. 

The Trauma-informed care movement looked at how can we best help people who are in crisis, and it really turned on its head previous ways of looking at how to offer these services. Whereas before it was very authoritative, very top down, very, um, kind of, uh, hierarchical trauma-informed care, emphasized empowerment, and giving people control over their futures and helping them, and working alongside them to develop a program for them to exit their crisis and exit homelessness and so forth. 

Trauma-informed design picks up with those ideas as well. But it takes the extra step of looking to see how can we take the ideas from psychology and social work and bring them to a place where we can actually make people feel empowered in space, make them feel less crowded, help them retain their dignity and so forth with the help of the setting around them. 

So it's a super exciting area. It's a super needful area. And it's a, a area that's really under construction and being figured out by a lot of researchers right now, and it's really picking up steam, which I'm thrilled to see.  

Jonathan: I'm just curious, what does that look like? Like help us visualize how empowerment translates to a physical space. 

Yeah. Yeah, that's a really interesting one, isn't it? And um, I've been really interested to see that it's not necessarily the big expensive things in a space that can help perver preserve dignity and so forth. Sometimes it's small things. For example, let's say that you are, uh, living in a, uh, supportive housing complex and you live in, you know, room. 

24. When you come into room 24, it looks like all the other rooms, so it's a bit anonymous. What if we put a changeable plate next to the door that lets somebody write their name? So all of a sudden we're letting somebody proclaim who they are, maybe positively claim some space, lay some territoriality to it, and let them just simply. 

S say out to people, this is who I am. I'm a real person and I'd like to get to know you and start some friendships and so forth. We could do the same thing on a bunk bed, for example. How we give people choices. Choices of where to sit, choices of what kind of chair to sit on, because bodies are of different sizes and people like to sit in different ways. 

Maybe instead of, you know, telling somebody you can't have a glass of water. Maybe we sit out a station or a water fountain so people can go get their water when they're ready. So they're retaining their dignity. They're empowered, they are. They're able to help themselves because one of the biggest things we're trying to counter direct. 

Is just a sense of hopelessness. Learned helplessness is what it's called. When somebody becomes helpless, they really put up personal barriers to actually getting help and exiting their crisis. So as the more we can empower and the more we can retain somebody's dignity, the better off we will all be. So  

Rachel: Well, I love that. 

Rachel: It's like the small things. We were actually talking to one of our clients and he said that when he was in prison. Uh, he thought he would never be able to turn a light on and off. Mm-hmm. Because, and so it just reminded me of what you were saying of like, it's the small things that make the difference. 

Rachel: Mm-hmm. Mm-hmm.  

Jonathan: And I love how accessible. These concepts are like, you know,  

Rachel: I'm like, what do I need to change in my house right now? It's not a  

Jonathan: big building project. Yeah. It's like putting a water fountain out, you know? Yeah. Or a water cooler or something small. Like those are little steps that I think anybody could take in in their business, in their environments, just to provide a better experience. 

Rachel: Well, and it's also like I'm connecting the dots a little bit. 'cause I'm like, when you talked about. Adding your name to the the bedroom. That's something like we got to do as a kid. Like if you're living, most people who are living in a home environment, you're doing that. Yeah. But with something like homelessness, you talked about this when you talked about trauma-Informed care is we institutionalize it and we take the human, we've like we've. 

Rachel: Extracted the humanity out of it. And so it's like, how do you infuse that back in because it is a part of the human experience. So it's like at some point we stripped that away.  

There are forces acting against, you know, a, a sense of care and so forth that I, I really empathize with, uh, support organizations because we want to help as many people as possible. 

We want to get as many people in off the street as possible to give them care and so forth. But when we start to, you know, emphasize that sort of assembly line sort of thing, that can become a little sterile. It can become a little dehumanized and I think something is lost if we, you know, forget about the fact that everybody's different and everybody's gonna look at empowerment differently and everybody's gonna have a sense of dignity differently. 

And people who have children are going to look at that with different priorities than somebody who does not. My current work is with people with support animals. Or, or, uh, animals of different kinds, how do we help them, you know, regather their lives together in a shelter with their animals? So it's just a very individualized thing we need to look at here in order to keep the humanity injected into it. 

Rachel: I'm gonna go take inventory of my  

house. Well, what's interesting is that. As we start to kind of understand what trauma-informed design means, we're starting to see that it means empowerment, dignity, safety, community, beauty, stress control. All of those things are what all of us want. I. This is not something exclusive to somebody who's experienced crisis, although they may need them more. 

But it's all about this, this complex term called ontological security. You know that feeling you feel when you get home from work, and you can come back to your apartment or your house and you can kick off your shoes, lay down your purse. Take off your coat. Just get yourself a drink out of the refrigerator and sit on the sofa and how nice that feels. 

That's ontological security. That is this feeling of I'm okay for the moment. The world's okay. I'm able to, you know, be all right for a moment. Nobody's looking at me, and so forth. That's the feeling that's very helpful to keep in mind as a goal for, you know, communal sorts of living situations as well. 

Rachel: Well, thank you so much, Jill, for being here today. I feel like this really showed me a lot about how empowerment is such a vital piece of kind of trauma-informed design, trauma-informed care for our clients. We really hope that our listeners. We're able to get a little more insight into why it's so important for us to treat our clients with dignity, treat them with care, give them this empowerment. 

Rachel: So we hope you enjoy this conversation with Dr. Jill Pable, and we'll see you next time.  

Tensley: Thank you so much for listening and engaging with these challenging yet vital conversations about mental health, addiction, homelessness, and trauma in our city. Facing these issues head on is how we ignite real transformation in Atlanta. 

Tensley: Thank you to our season sponsor, the Scott Pryor Law Group. The transformation you've heard wouldn't be possible without incredible partners like the Scott Pryor Law Group, personal injury and accident attorneys, their compassion and dedication to our community. Fuel stories of transformation just like these. 

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