Woman goes from being homeless to managing a store in 4 years
Annie Smith was living on the streets in 2018
By Addie Meiners
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LOUISVILLE, Kentucky (WLKY) — Annie Smith was living on the streets in 2018, addicted to drugs, and sitting at rock bottom. Then, she found the St. Vincent de Paul Women’s Recovery program, and the rest is history.
“I was broken,” Smith said. “I went into [St. Vincent de Paul] with the clothes on my back, that’s all I had. They clothed me, fed me, everything.”
After spending a year in the program, Smith began working at the St. Vincent de Paul Thrift Store in Dorsey Plaza. She hung clothes and sorted through donations for the store. Fast forward to 2022, Smith was promoted to the store’s manager.
“I’m finally realizing that I can do something with my life. I always felt like because of the things that I did in the past, I was never going to be able to amount to much,” Smith said.
The Women’s Recovery Program is now known as the Domestic Violence Transitional Housing Program, but its goal is still the same; to help those in need find the treatment they need.
“We have a clothes closet, we have the food pantry, we offer counseling services,” said Danielle Bell, director of the transitional housing program. “So there’s a huge gamut all through St. Vincent de Paul.”
Smith said she attributes her success to the people she’s met at St. Vincent de Paul and hopes to inspire others to follow in her path to getting help.
“They have all kinds of help. They have counselors, they can get you in the right place,” Smith said. “Don’t give up on yourself. Even if you don’t go to Saint Vincent, go somewhere.”
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