She was abandoned by her father at age seven. The child care workers seized her at age fifteen when her mother ran afoul of the law. Her first two foster care placements were terminated after sexual harassment incidents. On a spur-of-the-moment whim, she and her foster care buddy hid in the back of an almost loaded moving van. Six hours later, still fifteen years old, she was a runaway, homeless street person in a city she never even knew the name of. Soup Kitchens and Downtown Missions became her new homes. She used the alias, Mary Smith so the authorities would be less likely to find out her real identity and return her back north where she hailed from. As the weather turned colder, she and her buddy hitchhiked further south. She never knew why but her buddy, her only real friend, then disappeared from her life. She was sixteen and alone. Her life consisted of surviving one day at a time. There was no use even thinking about a future, but then a miracle happened.