“Hey QQ!” Shirley Raines calls. Colorful flowers, potted plants and the “Home Sweet Home” sign adorn the entrance to Quna’s home.
Q, who is transgender and HIV positive, says in the episode that she made life miserable in the main part of Skid Rona.
“This zone, for me, is much better,” Q says. “It’s very safe for me.”
Raines says the main area of Skid Row can be “very regional”, which is why Q and other members of the gay and transgender community stay a few blocks away.
“If you can’t defend and defend yourself, you don’t go to the row,” says Raines. “You stay back here.”
Despite her challenges, Q maintains a positive outlook.
“I love life. I just love the smell of nature, the flowers, the plants,” he says. “This is also a world. We may not have luxury things there, but we are human just the way they are.”
A few weeks after the episode “United Shades America for America” aired on CNN, Raines announced some good news about her friend: Q’s family saw her on the show and brought her home.
“She’s back home, getting along well,” Renes told CNN this week.
Renes said it’s been 26 years since Q saw her family, and while some homeless men and women who worked with her have taken to the streets, very few reunite with their relatives.
“She deserves everyone who is sleeping in bed, eating at the table, living life,” Renes said. “She has ‘miracles’ written on her.”
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