“From Homeless to Hero,” Brenda Combs, is the story of a crack addicted homeless woman. Being raised by hardworking parents in Flagstaff, Az. Combs was brought up to be proper and educated. Combs started attending the University of Arizona but soon quit. She got involved with a boyfriend who introduced her to cocaine and other drugs. Her path in life seemed to be disintegrating as she was arrested for shoplifting and forgery, as well as, becoming an addict to drugs. Combs failed a drug test which landed her in prison again. There she met a lawyer who bailed her out and gave her a second chance by marrying her. She became a hair dresser while pursuing her singing, which she was passionate about. Her constant relapses made her fail in abiding to the positive changes in her life. Combs ended up being another homeless woman, living under bridges and alleys.

        Combs made the preference of struggling life on the streets to maintain her drug addiction; she was raped, shot, and robbed. The straw that broke the camel’s back was when she woke up one day to see that her shoes had been stolen off her feet; she had enough. With blisters on her feet from walking bare-footed on the scorching hot streets, Combs turned herself in to her probation officer and into a rehab. Combs was clean for five years when she became pregnant; unfortunately, her baby still had problems at birth due to the father’s constant relapses of drug abuse.

         Combs was offered a job teaching in a charter school because she had been let go from constantly missing work to care for her son. Brenda Combs turned her life around. She went back to school to get her degree in education. The University of Grand Canyon offered her a full scholarship for her to get her PHD, which she was very grateful to take. Brenda started an organization, Finding My Shoes, to help the homeless. What is most interesting is that she gives back a lot to the community like giving motivational talks at school, making snow cones for the students at her school on Fridays, or little things like reaching out to the homeless on the streets. Brenda Combs has been an inspiration to many. In 2012, Grio.com chose Combs to be on a prestigious list. This list is the next generation of inspirational stories of African Americans that will be honored for black history month. Brenda Combs’ story needs to be told because it defeats the stereotypical single stories of drug addicted homeless women. Brenda Combs has been an inspiration to many and will continue to be for generations to come.