Success Stories: Charlotte Grimes-Brown

"All I need is a chance."

Charlotte Grimes-Brown is a single mother of two children, and regardless of what was going on in her life, she was inquisitive about things she could do to improve life for herself and her family.

"...not every Section 8 resident who gets to shake hands with the Vice President of the United States"

Charlotte has experienced many highs and lows in her life. A native of San Francisco, she graduated from McAteer High School. She found a good job as an intern with a federal agency and things were going well. She even moved with her job to Salt Lake City, Utah for a time. Along the way, she met some people and got caught up in recreational drug use. After about ten years in the drug scene and the loss of her job, she was sick and tired of her life and made up her mind, with the help of a fellow addict, to seek recovery. Charlotte found that Friday the Thirteenth was her lucky day when she entered a drug rehabilitation program on that day. She was in the program for 27 months and was determined to be clean and sober.

When Charlotte graduated from the program, she had nowhere to live. She moved in with her mother for a time. While living with her mother, she saw "for rent" signs and wondered how she could move into one of those apartments. She applied for the Section 8 waiting list and was ultimately successful in obtaining a Section 8 voucher. She found a landlord who would take the voucher and rent to her. "He took a chance on me" says Charlotte. She describes her landlord as a "helper," one of many people who stepped up in Charlotte's life at a critical time to offer a helping hand. She has now lived in the same apartment for nine years. After her commitment to living clean and sober, she found a job in retail and during her first month was named Employee of the Month.

"Participation in the FSS Program allowed Charlotte to accumulate enough money for a down payment on a house...."

She heard about the Family Self-Sufficiency (FSS) Program, which allows Section 8 recipients to set aside money for worthwhile causes such as education and home ownership. Charlotte signed onto the program and entered into a "contract" to get off welfare and go back to school. She was able to attend school and earn a Certificate in Addiction Treatment in May 2003. She consistently earned A's and B's in her studies. After graduation she passed the state examination as a Certified Addiction Treatment Specialist and is now completing an internship at the New Bridge Foundation in Berkeley, the place that helped her become clean and sober. Participation in the FSS Program allowed Charlotte to accumulate enough money for a down payment on a house, and re-establish her credit.

At critical points in her life, she found people who were willing to help her and take a chance on her. These include a judge who told her that, "You will be my success story;" her landlord who accepted Charlotte and her Section 8 voucher; a teacher who supported her in getting a scholarship; a teacher who called students "scholars"; a mentor in the Mayor's office who helped her with her resume; and a supervisor who supported her school attendance by approving flexible work hours.

"Charlotte believes her graduation from the school of hard knocks provided her with insights to help others."

Charlotte was able to get into a work experience program sponsored by PG&E. This program was aimed at assisting 56 current welfare recipients by providing them with real experience on the job as well as providing them with "soft skills" in areas such as how to dress for work. She was trained for six months and provided with on-the-job-training in Mayor Willie Brown's Office as a Receptionist. After finishing at the top in this program, she applied and received a job in the Mayor's Office of Children, Youth and Their Families as a Receptionist.

During March 1999, she met Vice President Al Gore who was in San Francisco to tout the City's success in moving people from welfare to work. Charlotte was one of the success stories at a forum on welfare-to-work programs.

Charlotte is interested in returning to school and continuing her employment with the City. She also wants to continue, at least part-time, to counsel substance abusers. She believes her graduation from the school of hard knocks provided her with insights to help others. Her role as a part-time counselor is her way of giving back to the community and those on the road to recovery.

The PG&E Program, Mayor's Brown's Office and her job at the Department of Children, Youth and Their Families gave her confidence and helped her overcome low self-esteem. Charlotte said, "The fear of failure gave me the fear of getting started." Many people along the way helped her to get started and overcome the fear of failure.

After all, it's not every Section 8 resident who gets to shake hands with the Vice President of the United States.

We have many success stories among our residents and former residents. We hope these stories will inform and inspire the readers.
Readers with story ideas about successful residents of San Francisco Housing Authority public housing or Section 8 housing should submit those ideas to feedback@sfha.org. Please include as much information as you can.