CARETAKING
On weekdays, Lucie Slater takes care of her sister’s six children, including her 9-month- old nephew, Courdarious Slater. The single mother of a 2-year- old daughter, Slater dropped out of a culinary-arts program to take care of the children. But she wants to leave Foote Homes and sees a culinary degree as her ticket out. “I don’t feel safe here,” says Slater, who has lived in Foote Homes for 10 years.
THIS IS HOME
Lisa Conrad smiles as she flips through family photo albums at her small fourperson kitchen table. The table is always set — plates, silverware, napkins and a large glass vase with a bouquet of baby’s breath and pink, plastic roses. She flips from page to page showing off her old house, vacation photos and trips to visit her oldest son in California, where he is stationed with the Navy. Her most recent pictures show her youngest son, Joshua, a 10th-grader at Manassas High School who excels at both basketball and his school work. “He’s the last pea in the pot,” Conrad says. “Just Josh and I, we’re living the best we can. We don’t have much but we’re happy.” Conrad, a mother of five, has lived in Foote Homes for the past 12 years after moving from the Dixie Homes housing project during the time it was being torn down. “I was in a very abusive relationship and it was the best thing that happened to me,” Conrad explains about having the ability to move into public housing and finding refuge at Dixie Homes. “People call this the hood, the projects,” Conrad says. Her eyes shine and she pauses. “No, this is not the projects to me. This is a community development. I don’t get down with the hood.” Conrad has three other sons. One is a welder and two are in college, including an aspiring doctor in medical school. She maintains that it’s not the place that makes the people. “I’ve worked hard all my life, since I was 16 years old, to make a home for my children. My home is my castle. Home is where I live.”