To survive, Janette Hicks learned to trust her instincts and God.

“You’re a lot stronger than you think you are when you call on Jesus — you still have more strength in you,” she said, sipping a can of Four Loko on the curb outside Mekong Restaurant one sunny weekday afternoon.
Her Alaska roots run three generations deep, back to an old homestead on the right side of Lutak Inlet. She grew up in Haines and Tok and Muldoon, had three daughters and spent two winters without a roof over her head. 

She met a lot of people a lot of places along the way, and she learned to keep her eyes open — it helped keep her alive.

For the past six years now, she’s kept an apartment in Mountain View: She says she opens it up to those who might need a shower or an extra blanket for a night outside, because there are people out there who need her.

“If God gives me blessings, then I should share them,” she said.