Living in the Shadows: Richard’s Story
Living in the Shadows is a monthly blog written by the City of Auburn’s Anti-Homelessness Team.
Richard has lived a tough life, that much is obvious. Twenty-plus years without a home and a crippling methamphetamine addiction tend to do that.
He has some regrets, and he’ll be the first to tell you — regrets about his family, and how the dynamic made a life on the streets sound more compelling than under the same roof. Regrets about the first time he tried meth and then heroin and then fentanyl and how good they felt; how nothing quite measures up to the feeling. Regrets about the times he’s done too much, and how his life needed to be saved.
“The addiction is like a ball and chain,” the 42-year-old said.
But mostly, how long it’s taken to find stability. A sense of self. A place to rest inside, away from the elements beating down from above and the social currents threatening to upend. Away from the chaos and the noise.
He’s found it, and it’s in Auburn.
“I’ve got a long way to go,” he said on a recent chilly morning as he sat in a refurbished hotel lobby a few dozen feet from his room. “This is just the beginning.”
Richard is one of just a handful of residents at a former hotel called Don’s Place, operated by the Compass Housing Alliance. The project stems from a county initiative, Health Through Housing, which aims to improve the difficult and complicated process of connecting people experiencing homelessness with effective and available housing.
Soon the hotel, which sits at the corner of B Street NW and 16th Street NW, will house more than 80 occupants. Though as they work on getting fully staffed and taking care of a few fixes and improvements to the space — which used to be Clarion Hotel— only a handful of people are currently residing.
For Richard, he doesn’t mind that so much. He likes the quiet. He hopes when the hotel does start accepting more guests, he can move to the top floor. He wants to be away from the hustle and bustle. Plus, the view couldn’t hurt.
Regardless, it’s much better than where he was even just a few months ago. Homeless, moving between camps, and after that, staying at the Ray of Hope shelter, run by the Auburn Food Bank. It’s there that Richard met Matt Landis, the City of Auburn’s Anti-Homelessness Outreach Coordinator.
On any given day, you can find Matt out and about — usually outside, and always somewhere most people don’t willingly venture. He’s out talking to people in parks, in forests, behind convenience stores and on the side of the road. And on this day in early December, he was at the Ray of Hope Resource Center, where Richard was hoping to find stability.
Over the next several weeks, they would check in often, Matt keeping him informed on an application process that is complicated and time-consuming.
“Ultimately, he would receive some of the best news ever that he was moving in,” Matt said. “I got to inform him on January 5, and he moved in the next day.”
There wasn’t much to move. Some clothes, a few keepsakes. His room is sparse, with not much but a bed and a T.V. but it’s perfect. For now, it’s all his. The consistency and security afforded by having a roof over his head and a place to put his things have led to his mind wandering — what’s next?
Permanent housing is number one on the list. And after that, reconnecting with his family. He’s tried over the years, but relapses have a way of breaking up even the strongest bonds. But it’s like he says, some bridges are made of metal, not wood.
From there, the only limit is his disability and perhaps his imagination. But if he can do it, anyone can, he says. The most important part is accepting the help that’s given — especially from the people like Matt Landis.
“I want to give myself a hug,” he said. “I’m on my path to do something for my life and my family. I’m doing what I need to do.”
