'Miracle' As Homeless Music Teacher Trades Shelter For New Start

NORTH FORK, NY — Two weeks ago, Eldie, a Long Island music teacher left homeless and without a job during the coronavirus pandemic, had no idea where to turn. But two weeks can change everything — and now, thanks to scores of Patch readers who opened their hearts, Eldie left the shelter and found a new job and place to stay as she seeks her path to a forever home.

After reading Eldie's story on Patch, many reached out to ask how they could help. A GoFundMe page was created by Nancy Baylis of Southold. And in a community outpouring not seen since, perhaps, "It's A Wonderful Life," people stepped forward to offer Eldie a literal lifeline — and a new beginning.

Now, she is employed, working as a mother's helper for a local family. Eldie, who asked her real name not be used to protect her privacy, thanked the many who cared during the darkest days of her life.

"Thank you to all the folks who reached out to help me," she said. "My heart is full of gratitude and love."

While Eldie said she was relieved to leave the homeless shelter, she was grateful for the safety net she found there.

Eldie said it was the Patch story that led her to her new position; the mother of the children she cares for "read my story and was moved," she said. "But at the same time she had been thinking about looking for some domestic help. She asked around to anyone who might know me and a mutual friend did — and told her my name. She messaged me, at which point I gushed with tears, knowing my Christmas miracle had come."

The icing on the cake? "The family has a piano! What more could I have asked for?" Eldie asked. "When she messaged me I told her I was crying. And she said, 'Me too!'"

The night before, a relative in another state reached out and told Eldie she was praying for her. "She asked me if I was ready for my Christmas miracle. Of course she didn't know the family, or what that miracle would be. When she and my brother learned what had happened they said, 'That is your Father going above and beyond to bless you, as He is so good.'"

Eldie said she was hesitant to share her story. "It is very humbling to admit homelessness," she said.

Also, Eldie said, she wasn't sure about reaching out with a GoFundMe, at first. It wasn't easy to ask for help, she said. "But I owe a world of gratitude to Nancy Baylis for doing that for me. After seeing the outpouring of helpers coming forward, I want to tell everyone that I am so grateful. I love my community and now I know how loved I am. I never knew."

Eldie said she read every single name and comment on the GoFundMe page. "I can't even express my gratitude in words. I wish everyone health and joy and everything good for 2021. Blessings to all."

Baylis added: "I want to say thank you to everyone for their support of my GoFundMe page for Eldie. There are no words to express how grateful and blessed I feel to live in such a caring community and it gives me faith in humankind that so many people care about other people who are going through a rough time. Eldie has a job and now she's able to get her feet on the ground and move forward because of your generosity and caring."

When Eldie shared her story with Patch, many were moved.

"I am a homeless woman at the age of 60," she told Patch. "Homeless for the first time in my life. It takes a lot of courage to admit this current reality. I never dreamed I would be saying these words. I am homeless in 2020."

Eldie is not a criminal and has never been arrested, she said. She is not a drug addict or an alcoholic. She does not suffer from from any physical disability or mental illness and is medicated only for high blood pressure.

Having been a single, divorced mom for 20 years, Eldie's work as a music instructor was fruitful for a long time. Through the years, enrollment dwindled. With the coronavirus, she had no students, didn't own a computer and people weren't inviting teachers into their homes like they once did, she said.

"I have managed to scrape by with a string of part-time jobs — cashier, waitress, bagel counter server, farm helper, elder care," she said. "But these jobs were all minimum wage jobs and even if I had worked at them a full 40-hour week, East End rent costs are still out of reach for me."

For several years, she lived in a small cottage behind her parents' home, until they downsized and moved to an apartment out of town. Next, she heard of a job as a caregiver for an elderly and ailing woman.

"My son and I moved in with her and cared for her, along with other caregivers, until she passed away in June," she said. "So I then lost not only my live-in caregiver job, but our home, when the house was put up for sale."

The rapid descent into despair took place as her son prepared to graduate from high school and prepare for college. He received a full, four-year scholarship and is now living in a dorm.

"We spent the summer bouncing from friend to friend, and on relatives' couches or air mattresses on the floor," she said. "We had to find a new home for our beloved cat — thank God he was adopted quickly — and store all of our belongings in a storage unit which costs $130 a month for a 5 x 8 unit. Most of our precious things are in there, photo albums, childhood toys, a few dishes, my son's new bike."

Those things may seem small, Eldie told Patch, but it's the little things that are everything — the memories that make up a life. And she worried that the day might come when she can no longer pay for the storage unit. A sea of caring individuals stepped forward to pay those storage fees, so Eldie's precious possessions are now safe.

The coronavirus also paved Eldie's harrowing path into homelessness. Along with lost income, landlords had new fears about renting a room or sharing a home. And on the East End, renters moving out from New York City put a strain on the availability of North Fork housing stock, she said. After the story, more than one person opened their hearts to offer Eldie the possibility of a new home; she is still exploring options.

And then, there was the search for employment during a time when the local economy is reeling from the pandemic. Until that one job offer that changed her life forever.

Despite it all, Eldie believed in the promise of a better tomorrow — a belief that has now become reality as she found a new job and will be able to find a home to call her own.

"That is my faith," she told Patch. "I know that God provides."