Tanzania Hughie had a imaginative and prescient. “I used to be going to come back again to New York, get a job and reside in a fantastic place,” she mentioned. “That didn’t occur immediately.”

Like many earlier than her, Ms. Hughie, a baby of the South Bronx, came upon simply how arduous it may be to go house once more. It took extra strikes than she cares to recollect, loads of help from family and friends, and a bit little bit of luck to lastly make it occur.

She left for Virginia Commonwealth College in 1999, channeling her unsettled creativity into learning style. The Trend Institute of Expertise in Chelsea had been a risk, however life at house was too tumultuous to stay round. Her speedy household wasn’t round to help her. She needed to get away.

It took some time to regulate to life in Virginia — “tradition shock,” Ms. Hughie known as it. “Once you come from New York Metropolis, everybody thinks you understand all the pieces,” she mentioned.

Although she was raised within the Bronx, Ms. Hughie mentioned, she grew to become an grownup within the Southern state: “I grew up down there and found out who I used to be.”

She stayed for a number of years after college, working with younger folks at a church and at a Boys & Ladies Membership. It was significant work, however she wasn’t fulfilled. She nonetheless felt artistic urges in numerous instructions and wanted to pursue them. “I stored saying I’m going to kick myself at 50-something if I don’t ever return to New York and attempt to sing or dance or do something,” she mentioned.

So, after 13 years away, Ms. Hughie got here house.

An uncle within the Bronx let her stick with him. It labored for some time. Then challenges set in.

They’d totally different concepts about how Ms. Hughie ought to method discovering a job. “My uncle was hounding me to ‘pound the pavement,’” she recalled. “I used to be like, ‘No, I should be on the pc.’ It was a little bit of a technology hole when it got here to managing that.”

There was additionally her uncle’s 9 p.m. curfew, which, at 28, Ms. Hughie discovered unimaginable.

So she moved in with a buddy and left the curfew behind, solely to find new stipulations: She wasn’t allowed to retailer meals in her buddy’s fridge or use the frequent area within the residence. “I’d simply keep in my room, watching DVDs on a regular basis,” she mentioned.

From there, she discovered a small studio on the Higher East Facet. However after some time it was too costly — and too small — so she moved in with one other buddy.

She continued to bounce round, with numerous circumstances necessitating one transfer after one other, whereas she pursued work and an residence of her personal. She blew by way of her restricted financial savings. “I moved 10 occasions in 10 years,” she mentioned. “I’ve slept in my automotive, slept in motels, I couch-surfed, floor-surfed — it felt like fixed wrestle.”

$1,004 | Astoria, Queens

Tanzania Hughie, 42

Occupation: Artist, entrepreneur and youth improvement skilled

On unpacking: Ms. Hughie didn’t instantly unpack when she moved into the residence in Astoria. After 10 strikes, she was afraid to settle in, and she or he stored most of her belongings in packing containers in her closets for 4 months. “My dad needed to inform me it’s OK to unpack,” she mentioned. “The opposite shoe will not be going to drop.”

On adjustments: When Ms. Hughie moved again to New York after greater than a decade away, one of many first issues that felt totally different was the dimensions of the crowds on the streets, in eating places and cafes — wherever she went within the metropolis. “I used to be like, ‘Is it all the time this crowded?’” she mentioned, laughing. “The place did all these folks come from?”

She started to wonder if she ought to have stayed in Virginia, the place she had a automotive and a two-bedroom residence. “I used to be comfy in Virginia,” she mentioned. “I wasn’t content material, however I used to be comfy. And to come back again house and never be comfy, and to really feel unaccepted, undesirable, unneeded, unloved — each ‘un’ — coming again house was arduous. Nevertheless it was a part of rising and determining who I’m.”

Ms. Hughie drew on her employment in Virginia to land a job at a bunch house on 14th Avenue, working with younger individuals who didn’t have households or dependable shelter. She additionally obtained a scholarship to attend the New York Conservatory for Dramatic Arts and began getting work as an actor and author in tv and commercials.

Nonetheless, she stored in search of an inexpensive residence, usually coming into housing lotteries by way of NYC Housing Join, a city-run program that matches renters with the income-restricted residences for which they qualify. She continued making use of even after 4 makes an attempt produced no outcomes. She knew the chances had been lengthy, however she refused to surrender.

“Arduous work is nice,” she mentioned, “however typically it’s important to be on the proper place on the proper time. I used to be prepping myself for one thing massive to occur.”

She even began packing up her belongings, as if she sensed a chance was about to emerge. “I began to align myself, mentally,” she mentioned.

On her fifth strive at a housing lottery, she was chosen for a studio in Astoria, Queens, at 10 Halletts Level, constructed by the Durst Group. The constructing has 405 residences, 81 of which had been put aside for candidates like Ms. Hughie, with earnings between $34,355 and $72,600. There have been greater than 53,000 purposes.

The rent-stabilized residence has allowed Ms. Hughie to be extra considerate concerning the work she takes. She has taught performing and debate at Intermediate Faculty 126 and directed a brief movie. “I’m not a struggling artist,” she mentioned. “I’m an rising artist.”

Ms. Hughie has additionally pursued her entrepreneurial instincts. Shortly after shifting into the residence, she was identified with Sjogren’s syndrome, wherein the immune system assaults the glands that produce moisture in some elements of the physique, together with the eyes and mouth. To assist with the signs, she discovered to make numerous salves and oils, and in 2019, she began a enterprise, Mae Del Essentials, to promote them, together with different magnificence and wellness merchandise.

She makes physique oils, scrubs, roll-ons, tub salts and extra, all from her residence. “All the things is made at this desk,” she mentioned, pointing on the cluttered floor in the midst of her kitchen. After 10 strikes, she is lastly comfy taking possession of her personal residing area.

And outdoors her door is a group she has come to depend on.

Only in the near past, a doorman stopped her on her approach as much as her residence. “I used to be having a foul day and I feel I’m masking it up,” she recalled, “however the man downstairs mentioned, ‘You’re not having a great day, are you?’ I mentioned, ‘No, I’m in some ache.’ He mentioned, ‘I may inform as a result of once you’re not feeling properly, you say good day in a different way.’ I imply, come on, they know the way I say good day once I’m in ache and when I’m not.”

Everybody is aware of her title, she mentioned, and typically workers members test on her when she isn’t feeling properly. She will’t afford to tip them on the finish of the 12 months, so she cooks vacation meals for them as a substitute.

“I’m a single Black lady, and folks round right here test on me,” she mentioned. “To be seen, to be actually seen for who I’m — the sunshine that I’m — is necessary once you really feel such as you’re alone.”