CityView Magazine

46 | January/February 2015 giving It Takes a Community Connecting the Homeless with a Better Life BY NATHAN WALLS C rystal Bennett points to a bridge on Cool Spring Street in downtown Fayetteville. "at's where some of our clients live," said Bennett, executive director of Connections of Cumberland County. "Some of our clients live in places like that due to exhausting nightly shelter options." It's a grim reminder of how some homeless live in Fayette- ville, but also an example of how assistance is just around the corner. Connections – which connects homeless women and their children, single homeless women and those at-risk of be- coming homeless, to resources they need to get back on their feet – is located just up the street from the bridge in the his- toric Cool Spring Tavern. One client, Cindy Woods, is ecstatic about the success she has experienced since going to Connections. She went from being homeless to having a job, healthcare and housing in a quick time period. Woods became homeless in August fol- lowing an eviction. She came to Connections in September and gained employment in October. "ey've helped me do a lot here," Woods said. "ey've helped me a lot with clothes. I found a job. ey've helped me with housing. ey helped me get my doctor – that's been great because he's a wonderful doctor. I paid $1 for my last doctor's visit. ey helped me with my birth certificate. ey made sure I had a bus pass to get to my job interview. I got hired the first week in October and have been there six to eight weeks now. CEED is helping me get my housing. I love Connections. I tell people all the time who need help to come here. ey make you do things on your own here, it's not like they do everything for you. You've got to take the steps. It Photography by Kiara Love Crystal Bennett, executive director of Connections of Cumberland County

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