Archive for February 2022

Fitz lived in a tent for 17 years. Everyone knew him. He was always the life of the party. He had found all of the ways to take care of his basic needs and make a true home in the camp. He got around by bike and utilized the pantries and the free clinics. One day his neighbors noticed…

Gary wasn’t someone you would expect to see in this place. He had two master’s degrees, children and grandchildren, no criminal history, and a lifetime of meaningful work as a college professor.  His wife got cancer when they were just 60. It was a scary diagnosis, and life changed quickly. They did everything they could do to…

Twyla was a homemaker, living with the love of her life until love turned into years of loneliness, pain, and fear. She and her partner struggled in a cycle of physical abuse, gaslighting, and mental abuse. She began to sustain injuries that were becoming increasingly horrific and she knew she had a life-or-death decision to make. But where…

Living on a monthly income of $774 in a low-income apartment which cost $650 per month meant that Mariana had $124 left each month for everything else. Every month, after the electricity was paid, she had to choose between paying for the six medications she needed and the cheapest of food. Her apartment was hazardous because…

Brendan was in and out of foster care settings for as long as he could remember. When he turned 18, he was so happy to be “free” from the cycle of placements and the traumas that often accompanied them. At the time, he didn’t fully realize that he wasn’t equipped to be on his own. After couch…

Stephen moved in directly from prison. He was one of the lucky ones who had a counselor to help him apply for housing early, so he was at the top of the waitlist when parole came through. We set up regular case management meetings but usually had to go knock on his door because he had…

Reggie was only 54 years old, but you might guess that he was 74. He walked slowly, hunched over and wincing in pain. We didn’t know what his medical diagnosis was. It could have been early onset dementia or a string of small strokes, but we knew that his needs were greater than we could meet, and yet,…