“I knew my bad attitude would not help me… I knew I needed to change.”

Marshelle has come a long way to graduate from St. Patrick Center’s Independent Living Skills program. By the age of 20, she was living in poverty and on the streets. Marshelle says she had a difficult childhood, one that had her dealing with blended families, neglect, sexual abuse and death. As a young teenager, she found herself asking “Why am I here?”

Marshelle says she felt more love on the streets than with her family and when a cousin referred her to St. Louis Job Corps, she checked her self-described “bad attitude” at the door and learned to become independent and set some goals. Marshelle came to St. Patrick Center to enroll in the Living Skills program, feeling better about herself with each passing day. “I was tired of the struggle and wanted to take advantage of these programs.” 

Now Marshelle has a plan for her life… she wants to get her high school diploma and work two years in the security business so she can afford an apartment and a car. Then, she says, “I want to study massage therapy and move to New York to open my own business!”