Former Homeless Woman Publishes Children's Books to Help Break the Stigma of Being Homeless

US Author Angela Sanchez spent much of her teenage years homeless, moving from various motels and shelters for a place to sleep. Now, armed with a Bachelor and a Master’s degree from UCLA, Sanchez works for the Educational Credit Management Corporation’s College Success Team where she has her own office in a downtown LA high rise. Sanchez now writes and illustrates children’s books which aim to try and help children understand the realities of rough living and help break the stigma of being homeless.

“Students who are from low income backgrounds, students who are first generation, students of color, a lot of boxes I check off,” said Sanchez. In one of her books, called Scruffy and the Egg, her main characters are homeless. “To me that struck me as a very important story to tell,” she said. “Scruffy and the Egg is based out of the story my dad and I used to tell each other when we were homeless.”

As NBC reports, during her years at high school, Sanchez and her father were without a permanent place to live and would go from motels to shelters for somewhere to sleep. “There’s no breakfast and no showers. As a teenager on her period, I was not having the best experience. So, I cleaned up in fast food restrooms and that’s when it hit me, ‘Oh gosh! We have no home,'” Sanchez recalled. “As a 16-, 17-year-old girl, I didn’t tell anyone I was homeless,” she added.

She now wishes he had spoken out about her situation and hopes her books will encourage young people to reach out. “For a kid who is homeless, having more advocates in your corner, having more people behind you, that’s the best thing that could happen to you,” she said.

Sanchez realised how people could help when she needed help with her Calculus classes and got in contact with

School on Wheels, a nonprofit that gives free tutoring and school supplies for homeless children.

“School on Wheels delivered. They didn’t just find me a tutor; they found me an astrophysicist from CalTech. And so, I literally had a rocket scientist helping me with my homework,” Sanchez said. Her tutor helped make her realise that she could go to college and have a career.

Sanchez now works on the School on Wheels board of directors, and also donates her books to agencies that work with homeless children.

“I think it’s important for children to read a book that reflects them,” executive director of School on Wheels, Charles Evans, said. “A lot of our children are apprehensive, unwilling to share their story because of the stigma that’s attached to being homeless.”

Speaking about Scruffy and the Egg, Evans said: “I think this book will allow kids to step out of the comforts of their own skin and be empathetic to those that are going through different experiences.”

Sanchez stated that she hopes her book will allow homeless children to recognise that they’re not alone. Sanchez’s father used to tell her that “They may not have a home but they do have each other.”

“There is so much I owe to him now. I hope I’m making him proud,” finished Sanchez.