Meet Erika and Connie: sisters of the heart

Author, Allison Peart | 07/08/2021

When the Covid-19 pandemic started in 2020, Erika was looking for an uncle who had been missing for decades. 

In her search, Erika came across Miracle Messages, and quickly recognized the unique work and perspective of the organization. While Miracle Messages’ Reunion Services are making progress in reconnecting Erika with her uncle, Erika found unexpected treasure when she joined the Miracle Friends Program as a volunteer and met Connie, the unhoused woman who would become her dear friend. 

Both women found each other in a time of difficulty. During the pandemic, Erika was juggling health struggles along with the responsibility of a housewife homeschooling her two beloved children. Constance, whom Erika affectionately calls “Connie,” was dealing with her own difficulties facing houselessness and unemployment during the pandemic. Though Connie enjoyed her work as a house manager for a performance art theater, the pandemic made continual employment difficult. Enduring the isolation of the pandemic, Connie was looking for a temporary job, when an acquaintance recommended the newly-formed Miracle Friends program. Though tentative at first, Connie joined the program and matched with Erika. 

While both Erika and Connie were apprehensive about talking to a stranger, they were surprised to discover how much they had in common. They shared a love of music and TV shows from the 80s and 90s, and Connie, avid fan of Queen and the Beach Boys, expressed delight at finding someone who understood her pop-culture references. Erika immediately warmed to Connie, saying “She’s so pleasant, she’s so funny, and so wonderful to be with.” Connie’s humorous references even help Erika remember good times in her past, since she experiences short-term memory loss after multiple brain injuries. Erika was touched to find that “[Connie] can hone in on what the need is and fill it, without even asking,” and exclaimed “I’m supposed to be helping her!” 

Erika and Connie’s relationship flourished as they talked more and more, even though, in Erika’s words, “they come from different lives.” Connie shared that she and her twelve siblings grew up in a large, Christian household. However, when Connie came out as a trans woman, she “felt rejected from the world [and] rejected from everyone around me,” says Connie. “I shut myself off to the world.” Though Connie turned to self-isolation to cope with the rejection she faced in her life, a small, cautious hope convinced her to try the Miracle Friends program. 

Connie shared that “I told [Erika] at the beginning that I tend to have people kind of cut me off after a while,” but Erika promised she would never do that. “And to this day, she hasn’t,” says Connie.  

Erika, on the other hand, comes from a small family, and often felt like an only child growing up. But both women felt a relational gap in their lives before meeting each other. “Our lives are so opposite and yet we’re such good friends,” says Erika, “She’s like a sister to me.” Connie agrees. With the humor that characterized much of her statements, Connie says warmly that “The surprise is that [Erika is] still around.” Connie shares that, though she doesn’t have children of her own, Erika’s family feels like her own.

Because of the Miracle Friends program, Erika and Connie found each other even though they come from different backgrounds and face different struggles. Erika shared that while she became a volunteer to give love to others, “in return, I got help that I need too.” Erika and Connie’s mutually-nurturing friendship testifies that the work of the Miracle Friends program is not a one-way street. 

Finally, even though Connie continues to search for stable housing, what she shares with Erika is invaluable. “I don’t know how to explain how Miracle Friends impacted my life,” says Connie, “but having Erika . . . gives me a sense of not feeling homeless.”