In the early 2000s, Jason was a resident of Our House at our original location on Main Street, riding his bike to work every day to the Sears building. Since then, Jason struggled with bouts of homelessness. “I wasn’t motivated,” Jason says. “I was wasting my money, and I was holding myself back. I was just surviving.”
Last year, Jason’s apartment would not renew his lease, and he struggled to meet the requirement of most complexes to earn three times the rent in a month. Jason was sleeping on the floor of his restaurant job before a friend brought him to Our House. Now, almost two decades later, Jason is back at Our House, but on a completely new track of life.
Jason was able to work in our guard shack and graduated from the job training program in September. When it was time to look for employment outside of Our House, Jason was the first one in the computer lab in the mornings and the last one to return from job search in the evenings. Jason now has employment as a cook at the Railyard, and he is putting his hard-earned money and budgeting classes to good use by buying his first car! Jason is now working on rebuilding his savings after his purchase to prepare for a future down payment. Jason transitioned from the Shelter into our Family Housing where he shares a private room with a roommate.
“I’ve accomplished more in the last six months than I ever have accomplished before,” Jason says. “I’ve learned a lot of patience. I learned that the only thing holding me back from success was myself.” Jason has been clean since he came to Our House, and he utilized our on-site ARcare clinic for medication management. “I’m to the point where I don’t even need my anxiety medication anymore,” Jason says. “I have a whole new outlook on life, and I don’t want to make any mistakes this time.”