Exiting Long-Term Homelessness
Roland’s Experience with Long-Term Homelessness
Roland is a natural storyteller who loves to laugh and will always greet you with a smile and a joke. He is from the Midwest and describes himself as a “survivor.”
Roland started working when he was thirteen years old and takes pride in being self-sufficient. He led a long career with the Ford Motor Company but ended up struggling after being part of a large layoff. Roland had some money saved but was unable to find work. He recalled that, “when my money ran out, it was the first time in my life that I had nothing to spend and no place to go.”
Spending Years Without a Home
That’s when Roland started experiencing homelessness. He slept on couches when his friends had enough room and stayed at different shelters for years on end. And for two full years, Roland slept outside.
After those two years, Roland had become very familiar with the resources available in the Twin Cities for people experiencing homelessness. He had become accustomed to the freedom of sleeping outside and was unsure about who he could trust. “There are some people that refuse to come inside because there is something about the nomadic lifestyle that people gravitate to,” Roland explained. “If you do something long enough, it becomes embedded.”
But as he began to feel the effects of aging on his body, Roland started spending his nights at the overnight shelter at Dorothy Day Place. There, Roland had his needs met and became so accustomed to living in shelter that he wasn’t actively looking for a place of his own. But then one day Roland had a conversation with Brenda, one of the staff at Dorothy Day, that motivated him to work towards something he hadn’t considered in years.
Finally Finding a Place of His Own
Roland clearly remembers the day that Brenda left a note on his bunk, offering to help him find housing if he was interested. “If it wasn’t for Brenda, I probably would have never pursued housing,” Roland said. “I’m a professional street person — I knew how to survive out there.”
As Roland worked with Brenda to apply for housing, it slowly began to seem possible. He was living on an extremely low income but worked hard to set money aside. “It’s really scary to put away what little money you have in that situation,” Brenda explained, “but it’s an important investment in yourself.”
About three months later, Brenda called Roland into her office to share the news she received early that morning: there was an apartment available that he qualified for. “It felt like a miracle,” Roland said. Brenda went to pick up keys that afternoon, and the apartment upstairs at Dorothy Day Place would be move-in ready that weekend.
“This is a great place, ” Roland said, “it saved my life.”
A Model That Works
Roland credits Dorothy Day Place for providing him with the resources he needed to secure a place of his own again – for the first time in over a decade. “When you leave this shelter, you may not have any money, but you can go to the day shelter right across the street,” explained Roland. “They have everything you need: showers, socks, clothes, and resources upstairs — they can help you get a job, apply for benefits, and even find housing.”
Amidst Roland’s excitement about having a place to call home again he smiled and said, “this is a great place, it saved my life.”
