A Place To Call Home

Every day, Timothy Wilkins wakes up, gets dressed, and his wife drops him off at work before taking their two boys to school. When he gets home, he helps his kids with homework, exercises, has dinner with his family, and a few days a week, he attends meetings to support his sobriety. His youngest son, who just graduated Kindergarten, loves to keep the whole family entertained by showing off his cartwheeling and many other talents. At first glance, Timothy’s story might seem like one of an average working-class American, and it is, but just five years ago, his life looked very different. 

Growing up, Timothy lived in South Louisville with his mom, twin brother, sister, and an abusive stepfather who added even more instability to a family that lacked a consistent support system. “He was in and out, in and out, until after 16 years she finally got a divorce.” After that, his mom was a struggling single mother who often relied on government programs such as Section 8 (Housing Choice Voucher Program) and AFDC (Aid to Families with Dependent Children) to make rent payments. Before leaving school in 10th grade to work, Timothy had attended 13 different schools, lived in 20 different rental homes (for context, the average 18-year-old has only moved twice), and experienced abuse – it seemed as though the cards were stacked against him from a young age. But now, his 12-year-old son has a very different life than Timothy did at that age.

Timothy started working when he was 14 years old installing carpets, moved to food service jobs at McDonald’s and Waffle House, and then entered construction. When he started working at Facility Management Services (FMS) about five years ago, Timothy was living at a homeless shelter, in recovery from drug and alcohol abuse, and had lost custody of his two children. “Years ago, I just lived in the moment. It’s kind of dark, I was just living for a substance then. I didn’t think of the future, and I would never have thought I would be where I am now. It was always a dream of mine to have a family, to have a home and all that but I didn’t see it as in my grasp.” 

FMS is the first janitorial company in the world to become a B Corp. A B Corp is a company certified for meeting a high standard of performance, accountability, and transparency regarding several things, including employee benefits and experience. FMS has a social mission to provide access and opportunities to their employees and to improve their communities. From Timothy’s perspective, FMS does just that. “I haven’t worked at any place quite like it. It’s a family-oriented business. The culture there is hands down the best culture I’ve ever worked in.” He, his wife, and their 2 kids were able to move into an apartment 2 blocks away from his job so he could walk to work and take steps towards stability.  

Timothy works as a delivery driver and supply coordinator. “I basically bring clean mops and rags and then I check inventories in the closet, what kind of cleaning chemicals, paper towels, toiletries, other stuff they might need and I order it. I have probably 70 accounts that I go to in a week.”

FMS frequently surveys employees to identify pressing needs and potential opportunities for support, and homeownership was something that many of their employees frequently cited as a quality of life need. In 2020, FMS partnered with local nonprofits LHOME, HPI, and New Directions Housing Corporation on a program called Working Your Way Home. The program is designed for employers to offer home-buyer readiness classes and down payment financial assistance to employees as a company benefit. Timothy was part of Working Your Way Home’s first cohort and was the first program graduate to purchase a home. Since then, the program has served multiple cohorts and has helped over 30 people with the home-buying process. 

Buying a home is a big accomplishment for anyone, but for someone who experienced a childhood riddled with instability and an adulthood that began with homelessness, having a place your family can call home permanently and taking a step towards family wealth building and ending generational poverty – that’s an enormous accomplishment.  “With my past, my mom is not going to be able to leave anything to me, it’s so comforting to me that my kids will have something when I’m gone, some kind of asset that they can either sell or live in, so they can have more of a leg up.” 

While Timothy was living nearby work in his rental apartment, it was his goal to buy a house. “I had money saved up for the down payment, but I was really grateful for the program because I would have been moving into a home flat-broke.” The process of buying a home can also be stressful, especially for a first-time buyer who has no family history of home-buying. The Working Your Way Home home-buyer readiness classes eased some of Timothy’s anxiety about the process itself. “It was nice to know what was going to happen, it can be really stressful especially if you don’t know what you’re getting into.” He and his wife also qualified for support from Section 8 initially which helped them transition into their new home.

Timothy, his wife, and their two kids moved into their home in April of 2021. “My life prior… I was homeless–I actually lost custody of my kids for 18 months because of poor decisions that I made with drugs and alcohol–and to be able to give them a stable place to live with a mother and father who love each other and treat each other with respect – it’s something I can take care of, and be proud of.”

It’s not easy to break out of the cycle of poverty and housing insecurity because of how expensive it is to be poor in America. While both he and his wife are still doing everything they can to make ends meet and provide for their kids, they have broken that cycle of poverty for themselves and their children with the help of programs like Working Your Way Home and by working incredibly hard to do so. “I feel blessed and stable. It’s almost like a spiritual experience every time I pull in the driveway because years ago I never pictured being where I’m at today and it gives me confidence. I feel self-sufficient and proud. I’m very proud of it all.”

Photos by John Cherry