Ronieta Lee found her calling in an unexpected way. She took a part-time job at a homeless shelter to help pay bills, but it ended up being more than that. The work set her on a mission.
The family case manager for LMM, a nonprofit social service organization, helps her clients navigate the shelter system with dignity. She assists them in finding permanent housing while offering moral support and empathy in hopes of positioning these families for lasting success.
Lee can relate to the plight of her clients. A few years ago she and her family were homeless for several months. She said they were evicted because owners retaliated in response to her complaints about the living conditions in the rental.
I tell them, I’ve been in the place that you’re in. So, we’re fighting in this together. I can hold your hand and walk you through it. It’s not the blind leading the blind.
Ronieta Lee, family case manager at LMM
“Me, having a lived experience being homeless, allows me to empathize on a different level,” she said. “It’s not I understand what you’re going through. It is that I inner-stand what you’re going through.”
Despite this experience, Lee hadn’t considered a career helping the homeless. It didn’t take long for her gift for working with clients to get noticed. Lee was promoted to family case manager in the temporary overflow shelter system, where people are placed when long-term shelters are at capacity.
Her job also includes helping clients find employment and connecting them with social services. Lee works with Family Transition in Place, an LMM program that has seen success in helping get residents out of shelters and into rental units using federal housing vouchers. Her passion for her work earned her LMM’s Award of Excellence in 2023.
Lee doesn’t want her experience with homelessness to be her only connection to her clients. She wants to show them that they can triumph over it. She eventually became a homeowner. Lee, who often sees clients at their lowest point when they enter the shelter system, wants them to know that a promising future is possible. She shows them some of the steps to getting there, including budgeting tips to help clients pay rent. Lifting broken spirits is unofficially part of her job description.
“I tell them, ‘I’ve been in the place that you’re in,” Lee said. “So, we’re fighting in this together. I can hold your hand and walk you through it. It’s not the blind leading the blind.”
Signal Cleveland recently spoke with Lee about her work. Below are some of the questions we asked and her responses, which have been edited for context and brevity.
You believe in the power of one person to make a difference. How does this philosophy impact your work?
I’m trying to be the change I want to see. I can’t change the world, but that doesn’t mean I can’t make a difference. Each one, teach one starts with one person. I don’t think about reaching 10 people. I think about reaching one person.
They [clients] say, ‘Miss Nita, I can’t believe how you keep going above and beyond for me.’ I respond by telling them my relatable, or lived, experience, because I want them to be empowered by it and have hope. I say to them, ‘On a professional level, I can put into place the process that can see you eventually moving into your own unit – but that’s not enough. I need you to do what you need to do so that we can make these words come true.’
I try to drop all the jewels in the bag when we create their plans, even if they can’t use that information at the moment. Once they get housed, they will no longer be with me, but I definitely want them to dig back into that bag. I want them to hear my voice and say, ‘Miss Nita told me to do this and if I do it, it’s gonna be all right.’
I always tell them, ‘I need you to pay it forward to the next unhoused person you see – even if you don’t do anything but share your experience, which will give that person hope.’
How do you keep your clients motivated when the path from being unhoused to getting their own place can be a long and winding one?
Sometimes trying to keep them motivated can be extremely frustrating because I want success for them way more than they want it for themselves. I know what being dejected looks like. I also know what self-sabotage looks like. I’ve been through that. I’ve been gifted enough to see it in other people. Sometimes we’re doing those things and don’t even know we’re doing them. So sometimes I just have to say to them, ‘I can be your crutch, lean on me, and I’m just going to guide you through the process of finding housing and whatever else you need.’
I remind people to see wins, even if they consider them small wins. When a space opens for them in the long-term shelter, it’s a win. I tell them that overflow is meant to be temporary. I can provide some things, but I can only give you an appetizer of assistance. Your meat and potatoes of assistance is going to be at the long-term shelter. They can give you clothing vouchers. They can connect you with more housing opportunities. I can only connect you to a couple of options, like TIP.
Then a light goes off and they say, ‘You’re right. I didn’t even think about it that way.’
How do you avoid burnout?
It’s not always easy and I’m not saying that I don’t get overwhelmed sometimes. But my motivation is to just see people grow and to see people win. It doesn’t take much for me to refuel. Seeing wins that are small refuel me.
I have to pray about who deserves that extra energy I give when people seem stuck. I’m a healer. I’m a protector. I’m a helper. So, I have to be careful about not allowing people to latch onto me, so that I can pull – not guide – them through. I want them to understand that I am here to help them. They can follow me so that I can help them and show them the way, but I’m not going to be carrying them.
It’s hard to accept that you can’t help everybody because sometimes they aren’t ready to be helped.
