From Shelter Guest to Social Worker: Theresa’s Remarkable Journey

Theresa Taylor arrived at Shelters of Saratoga with nothing but the clothes on her back—and a glimmer of hope.

She had just been discharged from the behavioral health unit at Glens Falls Hospital. With nowhere to return to, a social worker referred her to Shelters of Saratoga. “I didn’t even have my glasses,” Theresa recalls. “I couldn’t read the intake paperwork. The staff member who welcomed me had to read it aloud so I could sign.”

That night was the beginning of a new chapter.

A Safe Place to Heal
Theresa had never been in a shelter before and didn’t know what to expect. But the warm welcome from the staff and the supportive atmosphere offered something she hadn’t felt in a long time: safety.

“For the first time, I felt seen,” she says. “I could breathe. I could think.”

During her 60-day stay, she began the hard work of healing from past trauma and imagining a future beyond survival. She found solace in the day-to-day routine—spending time walking around the community of Saratoga Springs, participating in counseling with her case manager, and attending programs like Project Hope and Power, which provided life skills and inspiration for a different kind of life.

“I looked around that room at these professional women and thought, ‘That’s what I want to be,’” Theresa remembers. “And I realized what made the difference: education.”

She kept a dream journal during that time—one she still owns to this day—and wrote down her goal: go to college.

A Dream in Motion
Theresa’s next years were filled with firsts. She taught herself to use a computer at the Saratoga Library, saved $350 for her very first machine, and took basic software courses, earning small certificates she proudly hung on her wall.

“I’d never finished anything before,” she says. “Even finishing a book felt impossible. But I finished those classes. I thought—maybe I can finish college, too.”

She enrolled at Schenectady County Community College to study chemical dependency counseling. She worked hard, earned top grades, and became deeply involved on campus—mentoring, tutoring, even leading clubs.

Then, something extraordinary happened: she was awarded the prestigious Jack Kent Cooke Foundation scholarship, a nationally competitive award that provided $30,000 per year for up to three years, plus a brand-new computer and travel opportunities.

She used it to pursue her bachelor’s degree at the College of St. Rose, and later earned a Master of Social Work from Syracuse University.

Full Circle: From Client to Clinician
Theresa’s career has taken her across the country—from volunteering in Washington D.C. shelters, to studying homelessness abroad in the Netherlands, to working on the frontlines in California as a clinician, advocate, and now a licensed therapist supporting the very population she once was part of.