14 April 2026
Unhoused & Unheard Ep. 3: A Mother of 6 Navigated Homelessness — And the System That Almost Failed Her
The Color Between The Lines with Esther Dillard
About
"Your kids always tend to ask what's next, mommy?"
Sharell Matthis said those words while working, while homeless, and while
raising six children with no safety net. This is her story.
In this final episode of Unhoused and Unheard: The Black Experience of
Homelessness, Sharell takes us through what it actually looks like to
navigate homelessness as a Black mother in America eviction, motels,
sleeping in a vehicle, working a job across the street from where her
children slept, and finally: a key, a furnished unit, and four years of
stability she is now watching come under threat.
According to the HUD 2024 Annual Homelessness Assessment Report, Black
Americans make up 12% of the U.S. population but account for nearly 32%
of everyone experiencing homelessness. Families with children are now the
fastest-growing group up 39% in a single year.
Host Esther Dillard also sits down with Donald Whitehead, Executive
Director of the National Coalition for the Homeless, on what is driving
the surge in family homelessness and what every one of us can do right
now.
RESOURCES:
National Coalition for the Homeless nationalhomeless.org
FOLLOW ESTHER:
YouTube: @thecolorbetweenthelines
Instagram: @iamestherdillard
Facebook: iamestherdillard
Produced by Esther Dillard | The Color Between the Lines
In partnership with BIN Audio | ALIVE Podcast Network
Expert: Donald Whitehead | National Coalition for the Homeless
#UnhousedAndUnheard #BlackHomelessness #HousingJustice