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Miss Inez
When you meet Miss Inez your first impression is her cheerfulness and sweet spirit. But behind the sweet smile is a life of trouble and hardship. Inez Mangum was born 79 years ago in what was once Princess Anne County. She had a child and later married his father, but he was unfaithful and left her to raise their son on her own. In 1950 she moved to New York with her mother to get a fresh start as a Nurse's Aid. Life was looking up for Inez, but in 1956, her mother was killed by a bus and she had to leave a promising job to return to Virginia to bury her mother. She moved in with her ill father and nursed him until he died in 1988. Continuing her work as a Nurse's Aid she cared for many elderly people. In 1989 she retired when the Adult Home where she worked was shut down for operating without a permit. In 2000, Inez moved to a boarding house where she lived for two years.

In October 2002, her landlord made plans to renovate the boarding house forcing Miss Inez to leave. She had nowhere to go. The stress was unbearable, and she ended up hospitalized with heart problems. After her release, she moved to a motel, put her belongings in storage and contacted Social Services for help. They found her an apartment, but it wasn't ready to move into. “I really thought I had struck out this time. I had to pay the rent for my new place and didn't have enough left to pay the storage bill. They were going to auction off my things, the children's pictures, all the things my mother had. I prayed and I cried. Lord, here I am again losing everything. It was something to get me depressed, but I refused to let it get me down.”

In November, Miss Inez turned to the Union Mission Family Shelter for help. The Staff welcomed her and assured her she could stay until her apartment was ready. She says, “The Family Shelter helped me wonderfully. They encouraged me not to give up. If it had not been for them taking me in, my heart would not have been able to carry on. A lot of people will tell you I was going down for the last time.”

Miss Inez moved into her apartment on January 10th. She did lose her belongings, but with her wonderful spirit responded, “I am not ungrateful that the storage people couldn't keep my things. I couldn't pay the rent. I can always sleep on the floor.”

But the Family Shelter staff wouldn't let Miss Inez sleep on the floor. They gave her furniture and other things she needed. Most of all they gave her encouragement and assurance that God would provide. What does the future hold in store for Miss Inez? She says, “I am going to get a job either in food care or at a Day Care Center” and has good advice for all of us. “Don't give up on God because He hasn't given up on you.”

Update: Sadly, on October 7, 2005, Miss Inez passed after a lengthy battle with cancer. She touched the lives of the staff and she will be greatly missed.

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