A homeless girl

(Jasmine, a homeless girl, has been asked to tell her story for a tv interview)

"Hello. My name is Jasmine Marie Smith. I am 19 years old. I lived on the streets for 3 years. It hasn't always been this way. My mother wasn't a hooker, my father wasn't a drunk. My parents divorced when I was 3. My father died ,when I was 5, in a car wreck. My mother dated many men none seriously until David. She started dating David when I was 13. He moved in with us when I was 14. At first David was really nice. He bought me things. He even went as far as buying me and my mom a new house. But then 6 months after he moved in with us he started beating my mother. He would go to the bar as soon as he came home from work at about 5 and not come home until 1 or 2 in the morning. He would come home and yank my mom out of bed and start barking orders at her. If she didn't do it fast enough he started to beat her. He would beat her until she passed out. Then he would go in get a beer and pass out on the couch. During this time he never touched me. He threatned me but never touched me. I begged my mom to leave him but she kept telling me she loved him and things would get better. She was wrong. They just kept getting worse. About six months after he started beating my mother he started molesting me. He would tie me down and moleste me for hours. I told my mother but she didn't believe me. When she asked David he just denied it. This went on for just a little over a year. Then one night he came in and tied me up. But this time was different. This was the first time he raped me. That is when the problems got even worse. He countinued to rape me on a nightly basis. About 2 months after he started raping me I found out I was pregnant. I knew who the father was. I didn't know what to do I waited 3 months to finally tell my mom I was pregant and that David was the father. She called me a slut and liar. She packed my clothes and threw me out. That is when my life on the streets began. The frist few nights I stayed in the park accross the street thinking she would come for me. She didn't, she still hasn't. Six months after my mother kicked me out I delievered a beautiful baby girl. I delieverd her in a phone booth and rapped her in some of my clothes. I walked the 3 miles to the hospital and dropped her off there. I knew I couldn't take care of her. I knew she needed someone who could but it was the hardest thing I've ever done. I cried the whole walk to the hospital and the whole walk back to the park I was staying in. I had no money, no job, and no roof over my head. I knew I had to find some way to make money. So I started selling my body for money just to get by. I am ashamed now of what I did. I started eating at the homeless shelter and staying in them speratically. I developed several friendships. The best one was with a girl about my age named Elizabeth. She had a similar story to mine. I remember one thanksgiving we walked togeather 5 miles in the snow to get a turkey dinner. It was a memory I'll always carry with me. That night was when I met Jordan. He was working in the homeless shelter. He offered to give Elizabeth and me a ride back to the park we were staying in. He took us to our "home". I thought that would be the last time I would see him but he contiued to come back. I fell in love with him. He helped Elizabeth and I get jobs. He helped us get in contact with some people who would help us get an apartment so we didn't have to live in the park. He was like an angel. Eventually we started dating. I got pregnant again with his baby. We decied to get married. Six months after we got married I delieverd a beautiful baby girl. We named her Ella Grace. My husband and my daughter are my world. Elizabeth moved into the aparment across the hall from me. Not to long after Jordan and I got married she married John. They are expecting there first baby next spring. Our stories have a happy ending but we need to contiue to help the needy. Not all stories end this way. That is the reason Jordan and I have started the HTN(Help For the Needy) program. Anybody can make a difference in somebody elses life if they get out of their comfort zone and just do something."