Mom teaching herself coding while escaping homelessness

Sometimes a spirit moves in LaChantia Anderson.

It could be during the day or even in the wee hours before dusk.

When it happens, her writing utensils are always close by.

The Austin resident, 39, isn’t a classically trained poet, but she has been blessed with the gift of written expression.

She writes:

“Like the movie ‘Waiting to Exhale,’

I’m ready to breathe and tell

And ask a few questions as well, like:

Why does a flower eventually lose its smell?

That’s why I write this poem.’

Once she starts writing, it all comes out. Her writing canvas has mostly served as a catharsis after portions of her adult life have been spent homeless in different cities and the loss of her mother to cancer in February 2019.