The streets are filled with trash and, even at 2 in the afternoon, prostitutes linger on the corners. Everyone walks around with their head down like they can't bear the sight of the sun.

Maybe because they've been in darkness for far too long.

But then there is this house. It kinda reminds me of a flower that somehow found a way to grow in between the cracks of cement. Yeah, that's what it is. A will to live. This house is full of it.

It's a place where people can start over. It doesn't matter where you came from or what you've done - this place is your salvation.

And there is glass everywhere. Glass walls, glass ceilings, glass doors. As soon as you walk in, you have to squint your eyes because the light that streams in is almost blinding.

I think I know why now. Not just so you can see the outside - but so you can start to look up. Not be afraid of the light anymore. In this house, you can't help but notice the sun.

It's a life managment center. It's transitional housing for the homeless, low-income, and victims of domestic violence. But it's so much more than that. So much more.

When you come in, you agree to live there for a year. But it's not a shelter. For that year, you are in a life program. There have a nutrition expert to teach you how to cook and what to eat. A career expert who teaches you skills and helps you find a job. There is a custodial expert to teach you how to do laudry and mop your floors. Any aspect of life you can imagine - there's someone there to teach it to you. There's even a money expert to help you manage your bills and a mandatory savings plan that you must participate in because, when you finish this program, this center will help you buy a house. And it's probably the first home these people have had in their entire lives.

There are self-esteem workshops, child-parenting classes, life skills seminars. All mandatory.

The woman who runs it told me: "I don't believe that anyone is dysfunctional. I think the moment you tell someone that, they begin to believe it. They become dysfunctional because you tell them they can't function. I say that everyone is special. Everyone is worthwhile. Noone's so broken that they can't be fixed. We all just need a little love"

Honest to god, that's what she told me. Seriously, I would have planted a big, fat one on her if I wasn't in the middle of an interview.

And if I wasn't married.

Well, the good news came last week. I found out I got the job. The job that I have been drooling over for awhile now. This is where I work now. In this big, beautiful house with glass ceilings so the sun can shine through. I guess I'm a life expert, in a way. I'm a counselor there. I help put together their "life plan" and motivate them to achieve better things.

Basically, it's my job to love them. And teach them how to love themselves.

It can't get much cooler than that.

I walked in there for the first time today since I was hired. The woman who runs it came out into the waiting room. I put my hand out so she could shake it .. she gave me a big hug instead.

Yeah, I thought, I'm going to like it here.

last - next