One simple setback can result in significant changes for a family. Bills can be paid on time every month, parents can work 40 hours a week, and everyone can get along with each other from the time they get up until they go to bed. However, when one thing happens that is considered bad luck, it can mean the end of the road for many families. Shannon Loveless is one of those people who had things come up that she couldn’t control that resulted in her family moving from their home and living in their vehicle in the woods. The family had very few possessions as they couldn’t fit everything they owned in their van. Every day greeted the family with the struggle to simply survive while other families lived in a home and had basic necessities.
Shannon and her kids managed to find a spot behind a local Walmart so that they would at least have a safe place to stay until they could find somewhere else. During the day, Shannon would do her best to try to get money and support her children. At night, the family would hide and make a small camp so that they would have somewhere to sleep. Shannon would ask for food from people near the store or look for leftover food that was tossed out. Fortunately, the children were able to sleep in the van most of the time instead of sleeping on the ground. For Shannon, she didn’t see any kind of solution for things to get better for her family.
Two officers came across Shannon and her family one day. Officers Tim Yee and Johnny Le saw the family’s campsite and asked Shannon about her living conditions. She was fearful that she would be arrested or that her children would be taken from her because many officers in the area were known to give homeless people a hard time instead of helping them. Shannon had been involved with officers in the past, and she knew that some of them could be difficult as she hadn’t always been treated with respect. The officers decided to do something that no one was expecting at the time. They saw that the children were hungry and that they needed clean clothes. The officers gave the family a large bag of items that had been donated. Aside from the toys, clothes, and food, the officers also gave the family something else that they needed. They donated the money so that the family could stay in a hotel long enough for them to get settled and work on finding a way to get into a home once again. The officers gave Shannon and her family hope that their luck would turn around for the better.
