A Long Road to Being Homeless, Aaron Ballard's Story - Part 1

Aaron has not had a problem with alcohol or with drugs, but yet his circumstances still led to him becoming homeless.  Aaron share's his journey, and how he ended up finding SafeHouse Ministries to get the help he needed out of homelessness.

Transcript

Phil Shuler 0:00

HellO, and welcome to Renew, Restore, Rejoice, the Safe House Ministries podcast, where we share stories of the power of God to change lives through Safe House Ministries. Safe House Ministries is based out of Columbus, Georgia, and we are a ministry that exists to love and serve people who have been affected by addiction, homelessness, and incarceration. I'm your host, Phil Shuler, the Director of Development for Safe House Ministries here in Columbus, Georgia. Safe House serves over 1, 100 people each month as they transition back into our community. Safe House provides an abundance of services

0:32

Including 184.

Phil Shuler 0:34

beds for homeless individuals and families, case management for obtaining job skills and long term employment. Over 300 hot meals every day, free clothing, and so much more. One of the most incredible services that Safe House provides is our free 9 12 month intensive outpatient substance abuse program, which is state licensed, CARF accredited, and has no wait list. Almost 100 percent of individuals staying in our shelters who follow our three phase program become fully employed within a few months. And 68 percent of individuals who stay at least one night with us End up finding work and moving into their own home. Thank you for being with us today and listening to our podcast. We hope you enjoy this week's episode.

Phil 1:12

Hello and welcome to the Safe House Ministries podcast for today. Today I have special guest Aaron Ballard. And Aaron has an amazing story and I'm so excited to hear his story this morning. Aaron, good morning. Thanks for being here.

James Aaron Ballard 1:28

Good morning, Phil.

Phil 1:29

So, Aaron, to kick it off, I would love to ask you, if you had to pick one word that might best describe you, what would that word be?

James Aaron Ballard 1:38

perfectionist.

Phil 1:40

Okay. Perfectionist. I can identify with that. I have the, some serious perfectionist tendencies myself. Tell us a little bit about what you mean when you say perfectionist.

James Aaron Ballard 1:50

OCD. So when it comes to colors or lines, folding clothes, folding laundry, which is what I did at Freedom House. It had to be completely perfect. I did not shy away from just something being thrown and wad it up in a ball, so I took care of everything from the dryer vent to where we almost had a fire. The fire alarm did go off there, because the dry was not being cleaned properly, so George made sure that I was back there. He said, it's gonna be hard shoes to fill when you leave. He said, because I trust you. You go to work every single day and yet you come home and you do laundry and take care of this facility and all these other gentlemen.

Phil 2:36

Wow. Yeah, I would imagine that having perfectionist attention to detail personality could be a strength in some ways, but also maybe a, a struggle and a weakness in other ways.

James Aaron Ballard 2:47

Touche.

Phil 2:47

guess you have to learn how to, how to channel it.

James Aaron Ballard 2:50

Yeah, I did the same thing at my job at work.

Phil 2:52

awesome. So Aaron, tell us a little bit about how life started for you, the family you were born into and, and just growing up and, and what that was like.

James Aaron Ballard 3:03

Growing up, I well, my mom and dad both worked until my brother was born at the age of five for me, and then my mom became a stay at home mom. And then she actually got registered by the state of Georgia and became an in-home daycare sitter. So I grew up with a bunch of children in my house when I would come home from school.

Phil 3:26

wow.

James Aaron Ballard 3:27

So I come home, I was like, who has been in my bedroom? You know? So it was always, it was always fun. But being on a one-on-one situation with children, as my mom. They're less likely to get sick, first of all, because she's cleaning everything. And then when I went to high school, my French teacher, her daughter, and her next daughter, while I was in my high school years, all went through my parents' house and I went to Shaw High School. So we were only like two blocks away from Schaumburg Grove, from Shaw. And Ms. Robinson completely trusted my family. So high school was like a family to me. And then I was inducted into the

Phil 4:13

that's

James Aaron Ballard 4:14

National Technical Honor Society. I was the president of FBLA and DECA in high school. So I got, so I got to leave high school early my senior year. I had already finished all of my credits and I was already working towards my degree in communications and business management and marketing at Columbus State University and getting those college credits at Shaw, I became a key holder my senior year of high school at Plato's Closet. I turned my manager down. Um, the, well, the owner. And I told Jerry, I said, I, there's no way that I want to be a manager until I know my second half of my semester. This is my senior year. I'm only 17 at the time, so not until February did I turn 18. And I knew that I only had two classes left and I gotta leave school now at 12 instead of 2 45. And he said, will you take it now? I said, I don't know how I feel comfortable at 17, just turned 18, being a manager, having a key to the building, a safe code, alarm code, doing bank deposits, but I will do it. But I learned.

Phil 5:29

That is a lot of responsibility.

James Aaron Ballard 5:31

the hard way from having bad managers over the years that they think a writeup is the answer. So when you see something on paper and you're gonna act right or do right, no, I believe, okay, if you didn't come underneath my belt and I didn't train you, maybe you weren't trained correctly to begin with. So I'm not gonna write you up. We're gonna play a baseball game. It's three strikes. You're out the first time, I'm just gonna look at you, be like, Hey, we need to get to work. Second time, I'm gonna stop what I'm doing. I'm apologize to who am ever I'm working with at the time. Third time, you're gonna get off my clock. Go home. I'm a day next week. But then. If you can prove to me when you come back next week that you deserve that extra day that you had already previously earned, then so be it. I'll put you back on the schedule. If not, there's plenty of employees that I can give those hours to. I think that is the most fair. Judgment is a baseball game. Three strikes. You're out. Not just

Phil 6:38

So you,

James Aaron Ballard 6:39

go ahead.

Phil 6:40

early with good success in

James Aaron Ballard 6:42

Mm-hmm.

Phil 6:43

and really with a lot of responsibility in, in work. So things, things were seemingly heading in a really good direction for

James Aaron Ballard 6:51

Yes. And then in college I had my own house. It was 500 a month. I shared it with my best friend in high school. It was 500 a month. I went, opened my own bank account at my dad's credit union, MEA, that's before MEA, merged with TIC and became kinetic. And I said, okay, you can only deposit money in, so it's two 50 for you for rent, and then it's a hundred dollars for food and groceries. I'll pay the rest. When it comes to power, water and all of that. We actually lived in a bomb shelter off Warner Road. It was a concrete house, so they let me paint it. The inside was metallic. Ralph Lauren. Silver paint. We're both Georgia fans, so he got the red microwave and I had the red blankets and the Georgia blankets on the couches and red Georgia pillows. So it was a bachelor pad. I mean, that was my college, my first college years, but I worked three jobs. He worked at CB and T before CB T merged with Synovus. Well became Synovus, so I was working at Plato's. When I got off work and I wasn't at school in the evenings, Plato's paid for me to drive my personal car 'cause it was strictly commissioned to work for a DT and ACOM security. And I went door to door selling security systems. And then on Wednesday, Wednesday nights and Saturday nights downtown. On Broadway, I was a bartender. I had to get my a b, C license because I was only 20 years old. So I'm underage at that time to serve alcohol, and I bartended on Wednesdays and Saturdays. So I worked three jobs. I worked three jobs to pay my rent and his, it was very short-lived because he was in a fraternity. And I was like, I don't have to pay to have brothers and sisters. He had to pay into that and he only had one job and he was always going out to eat, and so that dissolved, unfortunately. But I moved back in my parents and then full force, I was a manager. I went to American Eagle. I was at Charlotte Roo before Charlotte reuse shut down. Unfortunately, I moved away. I went to Thomaston, Georgia. I was with a man that was 20 years older than me, abused me and my parents once again, saved me and moved me back home in my late twenties. I stayed with them

Phil 9:29

wow.

James Aaron Ballard 9:30

I met my spouse. We just had, well, first of all, my birthday was February 1st. Second was our nine year wedding anniversary. We got married on February 2nd on Groundhogs Day. Before him, yes, it was a very dark time, but his mother is the reason why I was at Fries. I was at Freedom House.

Phil 9:52

Oh,

James Aaron Ballard 9:53

yes, she is a hoarder. And I reported her to the city of Alabama in Phoenix City.

Phil 10:00

how long ago was that?

James Aaron Ballard 10:01

That was in July. When I became homeless

Phil 10:06

Wow. Okay. So yeah, the.

James Aaron Ballard 10:09

called 9 1 1. I'm calling, I'm cutting the grass with my lawnmower. She has my wash machine, my dryer, she's got rats, roaches, I mean, it's a very dark, dark place to live. There is disgusting

Phil 10:25

So this, you and your spouse were living with

James Aaron Ballard 10:28

mother-in-law.

Phil 10:29

okay. All right. So you guys were there at her house and then you reported her for hoarding because of the, the, the very bad conditions.

James Aaron Ballard 10:36

she even fell through the dining room floor.

Phil 10:38

Oh, wow.

James Aaron Ballard 10:40

gave way. And that's another thing about here, local, landlord, was a slum Lord, so he would come in and do a temporary fix, put in fake boards. Our house is elevated. That's also why my husband is disabled. Our yard is elevated.

Phil 10:59

he fell through the floor.

James Aaron Ballard 11:01

No, he decided to do my job. I told you, I'm a perfectionist, so when I cut grass, I used to have a lawn, I used to do lawns, my line's gotta be straight. you cut grass, he went across the embankment instead of going up and down, he went along the embankment and it had been previously raining and the concrete embankment gave way and he failed to the sidewalk

Phil 11:26

Oh man.

James Aaron Ballard 11:27

He now has five screws in his heel to hold

Phil 11:31

Wow.

James Aaron Ballard 11:32

the bone intact. I had to pick him up and carry him up the driveway and back into the house for him to have surgery. So, I mean, literally

Phil 11:44

Oh wow.

James Aaron Ballard 11:45

rollercoaster,

Phil 11:46

So was that now that happened prior to when you had reported your mother-in-law for hoarding? Right.

James Aaron Ballard 11:51

before, but it just got worse and worse, and it still does. Ever since I've actually been here now one month and five days. I've been in my apartment and my husband

Phil 12:03

Wow.

James Aaron Ballard 12:03

here every single day. My mother-in-law has asked me for food. She has asked me for toilet paper. She, we have one car. I still have my bus passes, so I mean, I can get to work. That's not a problem,

Phil 12:16

Wow. Okay, so, so let's, let's, uh, let's step back to when you. Reported your mother-in-law for hoarding because of the con, the very bad conditions there. So what happened after that?

James Aaron Ballard 12:32

That particular day, I went to a job interview at Dollar General, up Highway two 80 at Dollar General, which I used to work at, but not that particular. I was in Smith Station. This one's further up. I got the job, was flat on the car. So right next door, they put air in for free and they found a plug. They said It's not a screw a plug. Well, right next to our house in Phoenix City on 10th is a tire shop. So my dad gave me a $20 bill. He drove over from Columbus, gave me $20 to get the tire plugged. We got that done then she said, Aaron, I need you to drive me to Columbus to go get groceries. I'm like, what? What? No. My daddy just drove over here and his F three 50 that needs to go get serviced 'cause his backup camera's messed up to get me a $20 bill. When you said you had no money. I said, okay, you know what, no. Let bygones be bygones, Erin. Just take this elderly woman to go do what she's gotta do. So she wanted to go to Columbus and get food, get groceries, go get gas. So we did all that. We get back home. I start cutting the lawn. I let the dogs out. I got two baby pools in the backyard. It's hot as Hades outside, so I'm spraying the

Phil 13:54

Oh man.

James Aaron Ballard 13:55

love the baby pool. They, they jump in the pool, so they're, the dogs are running around. Then I have to dry 'em off, get 'em back inside so I can finish the yard. Well, then she comes back outside and said, I told her, I was like, look, I'm getting eaten alive by mosquitoes. we ended up going to Walmart to get some mosquito spray to get her some ice cream. Get back home. It's now midnight.

Phil 14:18

Oh wow.

James Aaron Ballard 14:19

it's midnight. I'm finishing the yard and she comes outside and all of a sudden I see blue lights and the police officer comes up to me and I'm holding the lawnmower. She's sitting on the front porch. I said, can I help you? She said, are you James? I said, yes. What's going on? Well, Ms. Brenda Wynn said that you struck her in the face. Come, come again. that did not happen. Well, we took photos and she is red in the face, so my butt went to jail for two weeks.

Phil 14:53

So why would she say that? Like, what, what, why would, right.

James Aaron Ballard 14:57

and she still is to this day, a hoarder. So when I went to court and the judge saw the photos, he said, Mr. Ballard, no, you didn't do this because she's saying in the paperwork that you punched her, you hit her, you struck her. There's no way a 36-year-old man. Struck a 77-year-old woman and did that. It looks like she passed gas and she turned red. started, was laughing. I was like, okay, well I'm glad you found that funny, but I didn't have to stay here for two

Phil 15:33

Uh,

James Aaron Ballard 15:34

Know?

Phil 15:35

that's awful. Yeah. Did they, is there

James Aaron Ballard 15:37

They let me go. There's no probation, there's, he's like, no, you're, you don't even need to be here. He said, but you are barred from the house. I said, okay. So that means.

Phil 15:47

because she had a restraining order?

James Aaron Ballard 15:49

Oh, she, yes. Restraining order. Yes, she did do that. But then when I walked, I walked took, once I got to Freedom House, I took the bus to the

Phil 16:00

So wait, so so you get out, you're, the judge says, this is crazy. You didn't do this. That's, and then he lets you go.

James Aaron Ballard 16:09

I

Phil 16:09

Okay.

James Aaron Ballard 16:10

Russell County from the jail. the way home.

Phil 16:14

Okay. Hmm.

James Aaron Ballard 16:15

When I got there, she came outside and called the police. He said, you can't go there. You're barred. But she didn't evict me, which gives me a 30 day notice. So the police officer puts me in his SUV. They finally give me my cell phone, which is dead. Of course, I walked to the tattoo shop on 10th Street. Where we got our one year wedding anniversary tattoos on our arms. It's a love infinity symbol.

Phil 16:40

Oh

James Aaron Ballard 16:41

know the owner. I know the owner there, him and his husband, and they let me charge my phone and they said, well, we're closing down. It's. Two o'clock in the morning, I was like, well, where do I go? I, I've never been homeless and all, everything for the past eight plus years is in that house. My clothes, my, my everything, my kids, my dogs, my, my everything is in that home. He said, I don't know, but you can't stay here, Aaron. I, I got on my phone immediately and my phone service was off. So I walked to the end of 13th to that hotel and use their wifi from outside, and I was like, okay, I have to go to the Bradley Center. That's the only place that says it's open, but I'm not. not crazy, so I don't know how this is gonna work. So I then walked the way from Columbus, from Phoenix City to Columbus to the Bradley, and all I got was my id and they said, you have to lock your phone up while you get spoken to by a psychiatrist. I was like, I just need to get out of this heat. And I stayed there for six hours. They got me in touch with Safe House Ministries

Phil 17:57

awesome.

James Aaron Ballard 17:58

and they were supposed to drive me there, but I then had to walk from the Bradley to Safe House Ministries and

Phil 18:06

You walked, so from where the Bradley Center is, you walked all the way to Schaumburg Road,

James Aaron Ballard 18:12

No, I

Phil 18:12

not like a

James Aaron Ballard 18:14

Center in Columbus to Safe House Ministries.

Phil 18:17

Okay.

James Aaron Ballard 18:18

Before they closed down. They closed down like two weeks later.

Phil 18:20

The day center, you're talking about the day center on Hamilton.

James Aaron Ballard 18:23

Yeah,

Phil 18:23

Okay. Yeah, yeah. The, yeah, they were old Rose Hill Methodist Church and then, and then they kind of moved all the day center operations to the Freedom House on Schataulga Road. Or Manor Road. Okay.

James Aaron Ballard 18:35

So I went there. I got a shower got of soup, my ID made, got bus passes. Amanda was the one that called Mike and said, I got somebody here that's different. Is this special case. He's, he's not a drug addict. He's not an alcoholic. He is not from prison. is literally homeless. And he was put out by his mother-in-law. He's still in good graces with his spouse, but his spouse is unemployed. Aaron's the only one that works, but his spouse has the car, he has nowhere to go. What do we do? And Mike said, well, I have a hundred plus people right now on the waiting list. So I made a post on Facebook while I was there. high school teacher, like I said, her name back then was Ms. Huddleston, but it's Diana Allen Smith reached out and she said, I'm gonna get you in touch with a man named, hi Clay. Hi Clay. Is somebody in the Columbus community?

Phil 19:38

Okay,

James Aaron Ballard 19:38

Then? Hi, clay sent me and he said, Nope, you need to email Neil. Neil is the. He's a part of the board. I've only, I've never really met the man. I've only seen him once

Phil 19:52

talking about Neil Richardson, the executive director and the founder really of Safe House Ministries.

James Aaron Ballard 19:56

exactly.

Phil 19:57

Okay.

James Aaron Ballard 19:58

I emailed him my story and then within an hour I got a call back from Mike Krug and he said, I have your room.

Speaker 2 20:09

and that is the end of part one of Aaron's story. And it's a, it's a great story that illustrates the challenges that so many of us face. And others just may have no idea about it. Uh, Aaron did not have an issue with drugs or addiction or anything like that, but yet his circumstances still brought him to the place where he ended up homeless and Safe House Ministries was able to be a huge help and a blessing to him. Next week, he will dive deeper into just how much of a Blessing Safe House was and Freedom House being able to be there. To get things back on track to start working and saving up some money. So come back next week and we look forward to seeing you then. God bless you and have a great rest of your week this week.

06-21-23 SAFEHOUSE-CH2 20:57

We look forward to being with you again next week as we share another testimony about the power and the goodness of God to change lives through Safe House Ministries. if you are someone listening to this podcast that loves to hear these stories of the great things that God is doing in changing people's lives for the better, and if you would like to be a part of that work, please reach out to us You can reach us at

Speaker 21:20

7,200 Manor Road.

06-21-23 SAFEHOUSE-CH2 21:22

Columbus, Georgia, You can call us at seven oh six three two two. 3 7, 7 3, or you can email us at info@safehouse-ministries.com.

Speaker 4 21:33

Thank you so much for being with us this week for the renew restore and rejoice podcast of safe house ministries, we pray that God will bless you this week. And we look forward to having you back with us again next week for a new episode.