Courtney Hunter was hungry and homeless.

PHOTO/TROY HULL

Johnson C. Smith University senior Courtney Hunter leaned on football, school and faith when he and his mother were homeless four years ago. He’s on track to graduate in May.

But he had football and faith.

Hunter, a 22-year-old senior at Johnson C. Smith University, they helped him when he and his mother Lisa were homeless his senior year in high school.

“School and football prepared me for life,” said Hunter, who plays offensive guard for the Golden Bulls. “They were key components in keeping me focused.”

Born in Quitman, Texas, Hunter lived in a predominately white neighborhood and was one of eight black students at his high school.

“I was a black man surrounded by whites,” he said. “I just knew that it was hard being around people who didn't breathe my air. It was one of those things where I learned early that not everyone is going to like me and the whole world isn't going to accept me for who I am.”

During his first two years in high school, the Hunters lived in an apartment. Lisa usually worked two or three jobs while Courtney waited for her at home.

“I had to grow up at a very early age,” Hunter said. “While my mom was working I had to learn how to clean up the house, cook, wash the dishes and do laundry on my own.

Although Hunter considers his living situation in Texas to be tolerable, anyone from the outside looking in would have said they were struggling.

“There were days I can remember our lights wouldn't be on,” he said. “I can remember filling up five or six jugs of water and that's what my mother and I used to take a shower or brush our teeth with.”

Hunter, an English major who plans to become a teacher, learned how to adapt, keep faith and try to see the good in what he was going through.

“The lights might have not been on but my mom and I would light some candles and have a candle-lit dinner pretending we were somewhere else,” he said. “The heat might have been off so we used to make a small fire outside and sit there and tell stories. We always found the good and positive in what we were going through.”

During summers when he was in high school, Hunter visited his aunt and cousin in Atlanta. There, he would attend football camps or workout at local high schools. One summer the opportunity of a lifetime was presented when the head coach at Booker T. Washington High School approached him.

“What will it take for you to move to Atlanta to play for us?” he asked.

After talks and meetings, Hunter agreed to live with an aunt in Atlanta while Lisa stayed in Texas. It was a culture shock.

“I went from a school with about 70 graduating seniors to a school with about 2,000 black kids,” Hunter said. “It wasn’t something I was used to but it was something that I loved to embrace. I loved seeing black teachers and seeing black kids. It was nothing like being around scholars and educators that had the same goal and mind. I was finally around people that breathed my air.”

Lisa Hunter moved to Atlanta a few months later, but things got rough when his aunt lost her job and house. Lisa sought a shelter home but none would accept her and Courtney.

“There were plenty of nights where we would cry together but she always told me God gives the toughest battles to the strongest soldiers,” he said. “We would sleep in the library parking lot or the underpass a couple times but the majority of the time we slept on the practice field in the truck. That car was my home. The school was home.”

Throughout everything, Hunter continued to attend school and football camps. While attending a camp, Hunter heard JCSU was looking for players.

“Smith just had everything I was looking for,” he said. “When I first got here, my first day consisted of waking up at the crack of dawn and I was just like ‘am I cut out from this?’ But then I thought about everything I had to go through to get to this point. It would be pointless to throw it away now.”

Hunter’s friends see the good in him and have found him as a blessing in disguise.

“He’s a positive influence,” said Najee Daniels, Hunter’s teammate and friend.  “If you need someone to talk to, he’s always there. I can talk to him about anything. He can definitely support you with anything you put your mind to.”

Hunter considers his travails as a minor setback for a major comeback.

“I honestly can’t give God enough praise,” he said. “If that situation didn’t happen in Texas, how would I have gone to Atlanta? If that situation didn’t happen in Atlanta how would I have known about Smith?”

Jevante Covert, a high school teammate, asked his mother Iris Cole if Courtney and Lisa could stay with them. Cole had six people in her house but welcomed the Hunters anyway.

“We made it work,” Hunter said. “My mom got food stamps and that’s how we paid rent. My mother would use her food stamps to buy food for everyone in the house.”

After staying with Cole for six months, members of the church they attended found Lisa a home and a job.

“To see my mom happy made me feel good,” Hunter said. “Knowing that she can lay in her own bed and not have to share it with me brought so much joy to my heart. As long as my mom was happy, nothing else mattered.”

Hunter, who is on track to graduate in May, has no shame telling people what he’s been through and using himself as an example of perseverance.

“I consider this a testimony now,” he said. “Hopefully I would encourage someone and touch someone that feels the same way.”

Hunter encourages people going through hardships to push forward.

“Keep going,” he said. “Sometimes you have to be the one to encourage yourself in a lot of situations. You might not have food in your stomach but thank God that you’re still alive.  I know it’s easier said than done but you just have to see the glass half full.”

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