Seventeen years ago, Brenda Farrar-Ejemai was living in her car with her four children. The experience was so embarrassing for her that -- something she hid from the people she worked with.

Now, she is able to look back on the experience and write about it with compassion. Her new book, "The Family in the Car, a Revelation," published in April, does just that.

In 2004, Farrar-Ejemai began to document her experience anonymously. By 2007, given the economic situation and the housing crisis, she felt a need to come forward and admit the experience was hers. She used the voice of her son, Antoine, as the narrator, feeling the story would be compelling told through the eyes of a child.

Farrar-Ejemai grew up in a middle class household in Brooklyn, N.Y., where she was sheltered and nurtured. She was a concert pianist and even performed in Carnegie Hall. As a single mother of four, an unfortunate series of circumstances brought her to the brink of disaster. All she had left was her car.

The family lived in it for a few days and then found a shelter in the Bronx where they lived for two years. During those years, she kept a job and took her children to day care and school.

The car was their lifesaver, allowing them to get where they needed to go in the city. She knew the city enough to always park in a safe spot and never let those she worked with know her real-life situation. She recalls many kindnesses from people, but also the feeling of despair when faced with the cynicism of the people in the social service system.

Gradually, through education, she pulled herself out of her predicament and became an educator, writer, conference speaker and the director of training for the United Black Writers Association.

Farrar-Ejemai is now a teacher in the Prince George's County Public School System and the author of four books, among them a children's book, "Roast Beef and Gravy and Black Tongue," a book of poetry, "Poetry from the Heart," and a motivational series, "The Goal, Worry and Fear."

"I love to write. I find that's what I need to do," she said. "And with the foreclosure situation today, I feel my story has relevance. Homeless people are not just the poor, criminals and mentally ill. It involves the middle class as well."

Farrar-Ejemai believes much of the homelessness in the United States takes place in secret.

"I felt that period in my life was a dream and not actually lived. The trauma was so unbelievable," she said.

Farrar-Ejemai's hopes her story will inspire hope in those who are in similar situations.

"It will provide a little flicker of light," she said.

Brenda Farrar-Ejemai's Web site is at www.thefamilyinthecar.com.

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