A sanctuary for Iris

The program director for Off the Streets^SM picked up Iris from a drug treatment facility in the pouring rain.  Under five feet tall, Iris clutched a plastic bag to her chest, filled with the only possessions she had.

In 2007, Iris lived in an apartment that burned down.  She moved to another residential housing unit before moving in with a boyfriend.  Their apartment burned down too.  That was how she first ended up homeless, living in the woods and transient hotels, using cocaine, marijuana and alcohol.  She briefly moved in with another man, but when he died in June, she found herself homeless again.

Today, at 49, she has been sober for 40 days.  She says, “My room is like a sanctuary to me.  I have a door I can close.  I can be by myself.  It changed my life.  I am off the streets literally.”  Iris is an avid reader and likes crossword puzzles, and she especially likes the quiet.  She says, “I sleep really well because it’s like a safe harbor here.”

Thank you for providing a week’s worth of housing for Iris!  She treasures her room.