New St. Matthew’s house employee lived in woods 11 years, now rising against all odds
Signing on with The Florida Weekly recently to write about folks in Naples who may not be so well known but are doing great things for our community, I figured I would come across some pretty unique and interesting people.
Score one for understatement.
Meet Heather Yepez, a brand-new employee at the St. Matthew’s House Boutique Thrift Store on Airport Pulling Road.
When I first met Yepez, she was behind the cash register in the main store, and I introduced myself while just casually asking her where she had worked before coming to St. Matthew’s House.
She responded, “I lived in the woods for 11 years.”
Ok. Not exactly the response I was expecting.
A long uncomfortable silence followed as I waited for maybe a punch line or funny follow up of some sort, but none was forthcoming. It turns out Yepez did indeed live in the woods for 11 years but that is just part of her amazing journey.
Her’s is a story of remarkable resilience. A story where a young lady in the face of almost unheard-of difficulties and immense obstacles, finds a way to overcome—and does so through her natural strength of character, her zest for life and her love of serving others.
Yepez was born in Ft. Myers Beach but grew up and raised her family in Ft Myers. She had married her longtime boyfriend, who she started dating when she was 13. At the age of 27, they moved to Cape Coral.
They had four kids together, and Yepez had a successful long time run working for the Rib City Restaurant chain, starting out as a dishwasher and working her way up to assistant manager.
All was going pretty well in Yepez’s life at that point, but then things took a dramatic turn. Her long-time husband and father of her children was tragically murdered.
Suddenly and without any preparation or assistance, Yepez had to now take care of her four kids and find a way to financially survive, all without any real support system around.
