When veteran Rosalyn Martin was living in her car, she made a promise to God that if she could just get what she needed, she’d take it and run with it. She fulfilled that promise on March 28, 2024, when she walked through the doors of the Fort McPherson VA Clinic in Atlanta.
Following in the footsteps of her older brother, her father who served in Vietnam and her grandfather who fought in World War II, Martin enlisted in the Army when she was 18. It wasn’t just tradition, however, that led her to the armed forces.
“I really wanted to get away from home,” said Martin, 46. “I was raised in Tuscaloosa, Alabama, and my family was well known around there. You don’t have much privacy in a college town.”
Credit: NATRICE MILLER
Credit: NATRICE MILLER
Martin became a dental assistant in the Army. She spent her first few years in the National Guard in Alabama before going into the reserves and moving to Marietta to work on the Dobbins Air Force Base. She left the Army in 2012 when her contract expired. That’s the same year her beloved older brother Kevin died unexpectedly.
Devastated by the loss, Martin tried her best to keep moving. She worked for a handful of information technology companies and attended school to become a makeup artist, but her ambition was snuffed out by depression.
“Losing my brother, and losing my father, James, two years before him, I lost my greatest support system,” said Martin. “That takes a toll on a person.”
She moved back to Alabama in 2014 where she floundered between jobs and residences for a few years before returning to Georgia to work for Amazon in 2020.
Just as Martin began to feel a semblance of order in her life, she was involved in a bad car accident in 2022. Her back was injured and caused ongoing pain and neuropathy. She had to resign from her job because she couldn’t endure the physical labor. That’s when her financial problems began to mount. That’s also when she turned to drugs and alcohol to try to cope.
Martin began driving for Uber and, when she could no longer afford her apartment, her Camry became both her workplace and home.
“I’d stay with friends for a few months here and there, but for two years I spent most nights in my car,” said Martin. “I’d brush my teeth at a QuikTrip every morning, I’d take showers at rest stops and drive up to 12 hours a day, as much as Uber allows. Then I’d park in the Uber lot at the airport, because police patrol that area, and I’d lay back in the driver’s seat to sleep.”
Credit: (Courtesy of Rosalyn Martin)
Credit: (Courtesy of Rosalyn Martin)
By early 2024, the pain of sitting all day intensified, along with Martin’s desire for something more.
“People always told me to go to Fort McPherson because they’d help me, but I figured they’d just push some paperwork around,” Martin said. “I put it in the back of my mind until one day, I broke. I knew I had to make a change.”
Fort McPherson is one of 22 VA clinics in Georgia. Minutes into Martin’s appointment, the case worker said they had immediate housing available at the Donna Center for Women, a place for homeless women and children that opened in Atlanta in 2018.
“I imagined a homeless shelter, like a big open place like you see on TV where people steal from you,” said Martin. “It wasn’t like that at all. I had my own room, and they gave me bedding, toiletries and food.”
After a weekend at the Donna Center, Martin moved into Mary Hall Freedom Village and began the Veterans Independence Program, which focuses on freeing women and children from homelessness, poverty, mental illness and addiction. The program offers career development and employment opportunities, as well as addiction recovery.
Tina Lewis, a licensed clinical social worker for the Atlanta VA Healthcare system, meets with all the residents of Mary Hall Freedom Village weekly to provide support, mentorship and advocacy. She sets a plan with each resident, including Rosalyn, about their personal and professional goals.
“Rosalyn has always been very forthcoming about her past with addiction and how her actions led her where they did,” said Lewis. “Now she’s seeing how positive actions are leading her to a brighter future. While she was living in her car, she relied solely on herself and struggled to trust others. Since joining the VIP program, I have seen her open up and allow herself to collaborate with others to attain her goals.”
Martin is grateful that sobriety is a condition of the VIP program and said drinking and smoking no longer appeal to her.
“It doesn’t sound tempting because I want my life to stay on track,” she said. “Being sober has restored structure in my days and I feel ambitious again. I went to every veteran job fair I could, which is how I found the job I have now.”
Martin is training to become a corrections officer for the Georgia Department of Juvenile Justice.
“It’s a lot to learn, dealing with kids, some with serious offenses, but I understand what it’s like to have baggage,” she said. “The job has given me a different perspective and helped me be more thankful and empathetic.”
Martin looks forward to graduating from her program and finding a full-time job as a correctional officer in a couple of months. She will also be on the hunt for an apartment, which excites her.
“It’s all a blessing from God,” said Martin. “I asked him for things when I was in my car. I made a promise to him and myself. This program gave me something to focus on and, with the level of support they provide, I feel like I can’t fail. My faith in myself has been restored.”
For more information about Mary Hall Freedom Village: maryhallfreedomvillage.org.
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