From Pain to Purpose

IT Matterz: Turning Pain Into Purpose

For years, I waited for a broken system to see me. I followed every rule, made the calls, filled out the forms, and checked in with agencies that promised help. Yet, housing never came. Support never came. Too often, silence was the only response.

But life had already left its mark on me long before the waitlist. I survived an attack that nearly ended my life — beaten, cut, raped, and hospitalized for a week. My body healed slowly with transfusions and care, but the scars that lived inside me — PTSD, anxiety, and night terrors — became daily battles.

Still, I refused to give up. I was a mother, a worker, a woman who had given years of service to my community. Even as I faced homelessness, even as I slept on buses or church steps, I held onto something the system couldn’t take away: my will to rise.

In time, I learned something life-changing: I couldn’t keep waiting for others to save me. I had to create my own light.

I started writing. Writing gave me a voice when I felt silenced, a way to release the pain and remind myself that I was still here. From there, I began designing products that carried messages of resilience, empowerment, and healing — words and symbols to remind others, as much as myself, that scars don’t mean brokenness. They mean survival. They mean strength.

That’s how my store, IT Matterz, was born.

Every story leaves a mark. Every mark Matterz. Those words are not just my tagline; they are my truth. Each blog post I write and each product I create — whether it’s a puzzle, a tote bag, or a shirt — is meant to carry light to someone else who may be lost in their own darkness.

My hope is that IT Matterz becomes more than a shop. I want it to be a community, a reminder that no matter how deep the struggle, there is always a way forward. Healing is not about erasing scars; it’s about wearing them as proof that you’ve made it through.

I may not have a home yet, but I’ve built something just as important: a place where pain is turned into purpose, where resilience is honored, and where every story — including yours — is valued.

Because you matter. I matter. IT Matterz.