if you are a follower of our blog you will note that our authors up until now have all been women.  In 2022 the Co-op launched it’s work experience program which serves both men and women.  Leaving room for men to share their thoughts and stories here as well.   Monte’s story…

My life was never so easy but it’s my life I choose to live and make the best of it.  I grew up here in Battle Creek but lived different places like Albion, Kalamazoo and Grand Rapids, even Detroit for a couple of weeks.  I was taken into foster care at a young age because of my mother’s decisions in men and how they all abused me and my siblings, and her too.  So when CPS got involved my mother begged my grandmother to take me my little brother and older sister. Finally we were taken to my grandmothers.  At first it was nice but it started getting real rough everything was my fault and I was always a bad kid no matter what I did even if it was good some how I was doing wrong. As I got older the mental and physical abuse by my grandmother started to get pretty bad that I didn’t care about getting in trouble or not.  I was always running around town past curfew and getting picked up by the police.  I was also being sexually abused by my uncle quite often and just had enough of everything. I tried to commit suicide at 15 years old and multiple times after that so my grandmother admitted me it Pine Rest in Grand Rapides.  I spent about 2 weeks there and then proceeded to foster care system again. Being bounced here and there, growing up in the system.  I kept running away from the foster homes and eventually grew out of the system.  And progressively my life started going down hill I started  drinking and doing drugs, it ran my life for years. I have been homeless for most of my adult life, living outside in the summer and winter, in tents, under bridges and wherever I could lay my head. I met my fiancé in the middle of my drug use and we used to fight all the time over the drugs. I was in and out of jail it seemed like every month I was in there. Then I decided to seek employment,  I met a nice lady at MRS who helped connect me to the Woman’s Co-op and their training program. Game changer, I am putting my life back together one brick at a time with their help.  What I know… you live the life you choose, and now I choose this one.

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