“At 58 I became homeless when my home caught on fire. I didn’t have insurance and a broken ankle prevented me from working. Loosing everything that I had, in 2002, I was placed at a shelter that treated me as if I had committed a crime for which I needed to serve time. At first I felt hopeless, but I kept hearing my grandmother’s words, ‘Never give up.’” ~ Iona

Though she has faced her share of difficulties, Iona seems to have a clearer view of her future, or at least one that does not seem to dwell too long on pain or fear from her past. ... She seemed to know that, while sometimes tragic, life’s ironies were boundless, and her good humor and wit would help see her through the darkness towards a brighter future.

~ Mara Jevera Fulmer