Gilbert "Bert" Herrera: Part One
(1/4) “I had a troublesome life as a kid: abuse at home, suicides in the family, witnessing my dad's suicide, then trying to help my mom raise my other three siblings—it was just too overwhelming and my way out became drugs and alcohol. They took over my life for a long time. I had some dark moments and made bad choices.
My family couldn't help me. I was basically out on my own and ended up homeless in San Antonio. My parents were providers and I didn’t have to be in the streets. I could have reached out to them and had a place to stay, but I didn't because I was lost in my depression. Instead, I chose to wander off and ended up homeless.
Being around others who were homeless tore me apart even more. It stirred my heart to ask, ‘Why isn’t there more help for the homeless?’ In today's society, the stigma about homelessness is real and out of control; pointing fingers thinking that the homeless have done something where they deserve to be homeless. But homelessness is just a superficial symptom. Often, it's a deeper issue within someone that causes bad choices. I'm living proof. The real sickness is within us—in our souls, in our minds. That's where we need to attack these issues and help these people.
While I was homeless, I was out on the streets and sleeping in parks. I could have chosen to go to the shelter, but I was going through a lot. Eventually, I checked myself into the shelter in San Antonio called Haven for Hope, a huge facility, and I started cleaning myself up. I entered a rehabilitation program, a really good program, and was there for approximately six months. That was my first rehabilitation program ever, and it was awesome.
I successfully completed the program, but after that, I ran into some issues with a relationship. I knew I wasn’t ready for a relationship at that moment, but I did, and I fell for it. My ex-girlfriend had gone through Hurricane Harvey and everything was underwater. She's like, ‘I need your help. I need your help. The house is underwater.’ I had something in my heart that told me ‘Don't do it. You’re not ready. You need to focus on where you're at and where you're going with your life.’ But I thought there might be a spark there left with her and I gave in.
I hoped that maybe we could make things work now that I had gone through rehab. But she let me down with another relationship she had going on. I went back into my emotions, packed my stuff, caught a bus in downtown Houston and took off to Michigan.
When I took off on the bus, I looked at her and said that I was going on a long, promising journey and was going to do something for myself.
But I didn't know what I was going to do when I got off the bus. I ended up in Ann Arbor because that's as far as the bus could take me, with only the $80 in my pocket after buying my ticket. I'm just standing there on the street and I asked God, ‘Okay, so what do you want me to do next?’
I'm thinking that I need a place to stay, so I walked to the homeless shelter in Ann Arbor but they said, ‘There's no room here. These beds have been taken for months.’
Luckily, two of my kids were up in Grand Haven out picking at a blueberry farm and they said, ‘We're up here. You don't want to be down there. We'll come and get you right now.’ I hadn't seen my kids for a while because I didn't want to get them involved in what I was going through. But they came and picked me up and that was heartwarming because here I was thinking, ‘What am I going to do now?’ And out of nowhere, my kids reached out, like ‘Dad, we're here and we will come get you.’
I was up there with them at the blueberry farm for a while, but then they decided to go back home, but I didn’t feel like I could go back.
There’s more to the story, but for me today, I look back and I'm glad I went through that, because I wouldn't be where I'm at today. I know firsthand what it’s like to be homeless. To struggle with addiction. To go to prison and have nowhere to go. To feel lost, lonely and hopeless.
But with The Well, we’re bringing an uncommon approach to helping men experiencing homelessness. So many of them have never known a loving home. They’ve never had a job or learned a skill. They’ve never ‘done it right.’
At The Well, we will provide opportunities for our guests to gain new skills, give them a solid footing, boost their self-esteem, and make them feel connected and engaged in the community.
Now I'm in a place where I can do something about it, and I'm going to do something about it. If I can save one life or I can make a difference in one life, I've done my job. My goal is to give 100% of what I can give.
– Hilbert (Bert) Herrera, The Well of Saginaw Men's Shelter
Bert Herrera is the Executive Director of a new shelter for men opening in 2023 called The Well. The Well has been assisted by The Emmaus House and The Mustard Seed Shelter, but you can help The Well by donating to its GoFundMe at http://bit.ly/3UL6YcB or by attending its first fundraiser, “5 Men Who Can Cook”, held at the Union Civica Mexicana on November 20th at 2PM. Tickets are $20 and can be obtained by calling 989-270-7126.
For more information about The Well or to ask how you can help, contact Bert at hilbertherrera70@gmail.com.