Judy Knotts - Author, "You Are My Brother: Lessons Learned Embracing a Homeless Community"

Judy Knotts

Judy Knotts is a consultant, speaker, mentor, and the author of You Are My Brother: Lessons Learned Embracing a Homeless Community.

Judy’s personality in business is authentic, strategic, perceptive, collaborative, ethical, and kind. She is perceived as knowledgeable, supportive, a trusted advisor, an invaluable guide, and wise. Her experience has taken her from board rooms to the back alleys of the city. Being a risk-taker and an achiever, and also considered extremely well-grounded, she does not fit into a specific niche, but floats effortlessly from profit making circles interacting with people who have deep pockets to boot-strap groups and individuals who are always in need of support and funds.

At almost 80 years old, Judy is still giving up the warmth of her bed to spend nights on the streets connecting with the homeless of Austin and listening to their stories. Now, she is sharing those stories and the lessons she has learned from living among homeless people in her new memoir. Homeless people can be some of life’s greatest teachers, and in her new book Judy shares their stories and the lessons she has learned from spending time among the homeless people of her community. You Are My Brother is a collection of short stories, all true, with a thread connecting them. They are about Judy’s encounters with homeless people and the epiphanies that they both experienced from meeting. Although it’s a collection of stories, at its core, it is an inspirational book meant to connect all of us to a distinctly different environment and to each other—stimulating reflection and possibly change.

I’m so excited for you guys to connect with Judy, check out her work and her new memoir, and follow along as she continues to help communities figure out the best and most compassionate way to help their homeless citizens.

I'd love it if you'd introduce yourself, what you do, and what you're working on.

Hi! My name is Judy Knotts and I am a retired school head and consultant to schools. Since 2003, the homeless community in Austin, Texas has been a big part of my life. Homeless people have taught me what it means to be homeless and what it means to be human. I spend time with them, write about them for the Austin American Statesman and other publications, and speak about homelessness to individuals, groups, on radio and on TV. Simply, I love them!

How did you get started?

This all began in 2003, when I went on a street retreat with a group from St. John Neumann Catholic Church where I attend services. For 72 hours, we lived on the streets with no money, no credit cards, and no cell phones. We knew no one and were quite ignorant of street life. Surprisingly, homeless people welcomed us into their world and truly cared for us. We learned that a piece of cardboard makes concrete a bit more bearable. We learned where soup kitchens were located at certain hours to fill our bellies. We learned to frequent the few bathrooms that would allow us to use the facilities—hurrah for the public library and a local 7/11! We learned to be quiet at nighttime so we would not be noticed and arrested for camping. 

This experience changed my life and I kept going back and back to the streets to visit friends and meet new ones. Sometimes I was there for 72 hours or maybe a weekend or a day, but I couldn’t stay away. And still can’t.  I never knew this world existed. The house I left, for that first retreat had three full bathrooms and two powder rooms. Five toilets in total for one person —me— while on the streets I was often desperate for a bathroom to relieve myself. 

I discovered that amid the many horrors of homeless life, there was resourcefulness. There was resilience. There was kindness. Of course, I saw loneliness, depression, mental and physical illnesses, addiction, and mean-spiritedness. With more than 15 years of experience being with homeless people, I realize that they are just like us in many ways. They are of all races, all religions or none, and all cultures. Some are serious, some are social. Some are quiet and some are noisy. Some are givers and some are takers. And all of them, just like all of us, want to believe that they are loved.

What inspired the work that you're doing?

What inspired the work, if you call it that, is the need to be connected with this community. To let homeless people know that someone cares about them personally, and to let people who are not homeless, understand the homeless life a bit better. To show some faces and tell some stories of homelessness that plagues many of our cities.

What is your biggest passion? Do you feel like you're living your passion and purpose?

The biggest passion for me is staying connected to the homeless community by knowing individuals who are homeless. Some folks I have known since my first time on the streets in 2003, some are friends I have met along the way and some I’ve met recently. Knowing faces, trying to remember names, and listening to joys and sorrows of homeless people or formerly homeless people fills me up.

What is your joy blueprint? What lights you up, brings you joy, and makes you feel the most alive?

For me, joy just bubbles up when I am with homeless people. I understand that their lives are precarious at times, but I admire their perseverance. They just keep on trucking, one step at a time, despite the hurdles in the way, and there are many. I feel most alive when I hug them, sit with them, laugh with them or cry with them. They teach me virtues like —courage, charity, patience —not by discussion, but by day-to-day living.

How do you live intentionally? Are there tools/resources/practices that you rely on to help you stay mindful and grounded?

It is a challenge for all of us to live intentionally, even if we have goals and mean well. For me, I try to set tangible guidelines. Each week, I plan to be with homeless people at least two days a week. Sounds a bit silly, but it works for me as a minimum. The first Friday of each month, I serve on a truck team that takes food and drink out on the streets for homeless folks and working poor. This is a decade plus long commitment that centers me. The other Fridays in the month, I am a waitress at Home Cooked Fridays, a late afternoon gathering in All Saints Episcopal Church that provides food and fellowship for people in need. I wait on people - that’s all, carrying bowls of soup, plates of dinner, and delicious desserts. It is an honor to serve and I am the one who receives the blessing, the joy. Another day during the week, I’m off on my own, connecting with people who were formerly homeless, taking dry shirts to friends living under the overpass near my house who braved the torrential rains during the night, or less often, doing work for the homeless community that is not hands-on—speaking, writing, advocating.

What would your younger self think about what you're doing now?

I think my younger self would say, “You go girl!” This is what we are called to do in life, take care of each other, especially the most vulnerable among us.

Do you have a go-to mantra or affirmation?

My mantra is short but meaningful to me, before leaving home to be among homeless folks, I say to myself simply, “Hands and feet.” This reminds me that I am not so important, I just play a little role. I got this inspiration from St. Teresa of Avila who wrote: “Christ has no body now on earth but yours, no hands but yours, no feet but yours….”

What is your biggest dream?

The biggest dream for me would be no homelessness, that everyone one would have a place to call home, no matter how humble.

To learn more about Judy you can connect with her on her website www.JudithDKnotts.com Facebook @judyknotts and via email YouAreMyBrotherBook@gmail.com; and you can find her book You Are My Brother, Lessons, Learned Embracing a Homeless Community on Amazon here and you can view her TEDxYouth@Austin on YouTube, No One Left Behind, Judith Knotts here

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