July 2017 Newsletter

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The Trouble With Roommates

Roommates are unpredictable. Anthony had four of them in a two bedroom apartment. $200 a month afforded him the couch downstairs as a bed. At the time, he was working part-time at a minimum wage job. After child support was garnished from his paycheck, there was little left to live on. While he was at work one evening, the roommates had a party that ended up with uninvited guests. The arguing and yelling resulted in an eviction notice. They had 72 hours to vacate. Anthony’s innocence was irrelevant, especially because he was not named on the lease, but was illegally subleasing in an over occupied apartment.

Rather than chancing another problem with roommates, he chose to live in a tent near his place of employment. It was convenient for work, but not for showers and laundry. Even there, he had unwanted tentmates, bugs that were biting him. It was nothing contagious and the effect of the bites was easily resolved with soap and a shower. That was his first experience living in a tent, although he did sleep in doorways of businesses a couple of years ago before he knew about the Mission.

Since Anthony graduated from Glide High School in 2011, he has not had a stable living situation for more than a few months at a time. He said that problem stems from an Attention-Deficit (Hyperactivity) Disorder with related memory difficulty and anger problems because of abuse as a child. Now as an adult, those issues have complicated relationships as well as an already tough market for both housing and employment. He has worked fast food, store clerk, seasonal work, day labor, restaurants, retirement home, food processing plant and lumber mill. He has had a variety of roommates, including one with unwanted sexual harassment, who was his employer. He slept in his truck for a while. Of the two, he has had more success at employment than housing.

Last year, the Mission averaged 99 men per night in our three programs on our downtown campus. That would be 98 housemates for Anthony. The difference is that here, there are no wild parties, no uninvited guests, no illegally over occupied areas, no bugs, no alcohol or drugs, no harassment – like his previous experiences. We have a controlled environment with accountability and Biblical teaching. He is not paying rent here, but he will have to use that saved money to move out in a few months.