When I met David, I knew instantly that he is a gentleman with a kind heart and plenty of stories with a hilariously relatable catch phrases dropped in somewhere. I know that I could sit and listen to his stories for hours. David chose to talk to me because he wanted to help Angela out. Angela is a Housing Empowerment Coach at SENDCAA who started working with David almost a year ago. Angela asked him if he would want to share his success story with others. He said yes right away, to help her and SENDCAA. I don’t think there is a chance he would have said yes if it wasn’t for his huge heart and desire to help others. But he got dressed up and looking sharp to come to SENDCAA to take his picture.
David wants people to know they are not alone and it is possible for things to get better. He cares deeply about Veterans experiencing homelessness and tries to connect as many Veterans to services as he can. David is a Veteran himself who dedicated part of his life to serve his country. David also spent over a decade of his life without a home. He described his life as a “nomad life” and that when things started to get challenging in one place, he’d move on to the next and start over again. He told me that it’s a life that “you just get used to” and became his normal. He tried many different ways to address his struggles during these many years, and still speaks highly of them even if they didn’t “stick” at first.
Eleven months ago, Angela was assigned David’s case through a service called rapid re-housing. The intent of rapid rehousing is just that- to move people out of homelessness as fast as possible. And it worked for David, he was housed five weeks after starting to work with Angela.
But exiting homelessness isn’t just signing a lease. David said he when he first moved in, he couldn’t imagine not being around people all the time. That’s all he’s known for the last 11 years. His apartment was too quiet. He didn’t know how to cope with the huge life change of having his own home. David ran into some challenges and tried to disengage with Angela. He planned to leave town and go back to the life he is comfortable with, the life that had felt normal. But Angela wouldn’t let him leave that easily. She said if you want to make this work, I’ll work just as hard as you will to make it work. But its up to you.
And he said yes. He hasn’t missed a meeting since. It took him weeks, but he worked his way up to feel comfortable enough to use the bedroom. He had to create routines for himself, he does music therapy, he gives himself chores, he made choices to have a more stable financial situation, and so much more. And throughout this time, Angela was in his corner being his cheerleader and motivator when he needed it. He said he can’t imagine living around so many other people now.
David says he still has challenges today, but he’s found a way to be mindful and take care of himself in a way that works well for him. And he’s about to renew his lease for another year. David did all the hard work to get where he is today. We may never know why this encounter with Angela was the one that helped motivate him to change his life after all his attempts before. But the fact is that it did.
Supporting SENDCAA on Giving Hearts Day helps us be able to support more people like David - people who need someone to believe in them even when they don't believe in themselves.
