Authorpreneur Dashboard – Shenandoah Chefalo
Garbage Bag Suitcase
Biographies & Memoirs
The true story of Shenandoah Chefalo’s dysfunctional journey through childhood. Enduring numerous moves in the middle of the night with just minutes to pack, multiple changes in schools, hunger, cruelty, and loneliness. Finally at the age of 13, Shen had had enough. After being abandoned by her mother at her grandmother’s retirement community, she asked to be put into foster care. It turns out that it was not the storybook ending she had hoped for. With foster parents more interested in the income received by housing a foster child, Shen was once again neglected emotionally. The money she earned working at the local grocery store was taken by her foster parents to “cover her expenses.” When a car accident lands her in the hospital with grave injuries and no one comes to visit her during her three-week stay, she realizes she is truly all alone in the world. Overcoming her many adversities, Shen became part of the 3% of all foster care children who get into college, and the 1% who graduate. She became a successful businesswoman, got married, and had a daughter. Despite her numerous achievements in life though, she was still suffering from the long-term effects of neglect, and the coping skills that she adapted in her childhood are not always productive in her adult life. This is not only the inspiring and hair-raising story of one woman’s journey to over- come her desolate childhood, but it also presents grass-root solutions on how to revamp the broken system.
Book Bubbles from Garbage Bag Suitcase
More Than Just a Story, a Playbook for Action
There are thousands of books on family dysfunction out there. In fact, one could argue that every self-help book is one of these stories, in a slightly different format. When I set out to write this book, I wanted it to be more than just another "sad story." I wanted to move folks from beyond reading into action. So, against the will of many mentors, advisors and such, I wanted to educate the general public on the outcome son foster care. I knew if they understood the wide breath of this issue, more individuals would get involved. So, this is more than just a story, it is a playbook for action!
Hiding In The Open
When I attend events and I am asked to read from the book aloud, I often choose this section to start with. When I originally began writing the book, it was this story that I started with. In later edits, it was moved around and the opening story was changed. For me, this moment in time is still very real and trying to help audience understand what it is like to be Hiding In The Open when everyone around you seems to believe you are invisible or at least you feel that way.
