They say the love of a pet is unconditional. But in some cases, returning that love can cost you everything.
A Kannapolis woman found herself facing homelessness, sleeping on the ground, too scared to even close her eyes at night. With nowhere to turn, all she has is the devotion from her dog.
“It’s just hard … really hard for us out here,” Velvet Berlin said.
Berlin moved to the Kannapolis area several months ago from Wilkesboro after a family death. That trauma led to her losing the place she was living at. The only thing she has left is a shopping cart full of her last worldly possessions, and her 15-year-old dog Sissy who she raised since she was a puppy.
“I can’t get rid of her,” Berlin said. “She’ll die of a broken heart and abandonment.”
Velvet has been outdoors for four months, and the blazing summer heat is taking its toll on her and her beloved dog.
“It’s hard on her, and yes it’s hard on me as well,” she said.
Velvet turned to one of the few sources of help for people in her situation — local homeless shelters. But she kept being told the same thing over and over again: Sissy wasn’t welcome.
“I’ve called everybody, I’ve tried everything. It’s the same story … ‘People may have allergies to your dog,’” Berlin said with tears in her eyes.
She could leave Sissy behind, but Berlin said that’s not happening.
“She’s my everything,” Berlin said. “She’s the reason I’m still alive and still here.”
But her options were dwindling.
“I think we’re here to help each other,” Donna Taylor said.
Taylor owns Eat Cakes Bakery in downtown Kannapolis, and has known Velvet and Sissy for several months, watching her sleep on park benches and on the hard ground when there was no other place to go. Even watching Berlin’s shopping cart with everything she owns loaded into it.
With the pounding rains moving into the area, she couldn’t just watch as Velvet and Sissy suffered, so she opened her heart and wallet to get her a motel room for a few days.
“All of us are really this close to being in the same situation,” Taylor said. “If we don’t have somebody to just reach out for us, what are we all here for?”
It’s not a permanent solution,but at least for now, it keeps this family together.
“Just having to deal with it one day at a time,” Berlin said of her situation. “Day by day, minute by minute.”
But this story isn’t over. There is a sense of urgency because Friday morning, Berlin has to move out of the motel. When we asked her where she and Sissy were going to go … she said she didn’t know.
The community is trying to step up to get Berlin a place to stay where she can bring Sissy with her. A GoFundMe account has been set up to help. If you’d like to contribute, you can click here to do so.