Willie - Streets or Services

“They make a personal commitment to help you get something going in your life,” says Willie of his case managers at the Weingart Center.

Homeless for over 15 years…  That was Willie’s life after losing his wife of ten years to a fast moving cancer.

The trauma from seeing his wife rapidly deteriorate caused Willie to have a nervous break-down.  “I loved my wife,” says Willie. “I took it hard and I just couldn’t hold things together after she passed on.” The “just a normal guy” walked away from everything: a residence, a job, his life…

Willie turned to drugs to ease his profound grief, but he ended up spending the next dozen years in a daze of despair, before getting arrested for selling drugs, which he only did to feed his own habit. He spent two year behind bars.

Out of jail but without a plan, Willie was homeless again.  He bounced from mission to shelter to avoid sleeping on the streets, but unfortunately, when you are homeless, sleeping on the cold, dirty streets is inevitable and unavoidable.  On one of these occasions, Willie was issued a citation for sleeping on the streets during the day and was given the option to enter a short-term, emergency housing program.  He came into the Streets or Services (SOS) program at the Weingart Center Association.  If an individual makes it through the 21-day program, the misdemeanor offense is dismissed. 

Unlike the missions and shelters Willie had been accustomed to, the SOS program provided him with more than just a place to sleep for 21 days; the Weingart Center gave Willie one-on-one counseling, life management skills, health care and education, money management, substance abuse services, anger resolution, mental health treatment, and other services.  Willie credits his caring case managers for making all the difference.  “They make a personal commitment to help you get something going in your life,” says Willie. 

Never was that more evident than when Willie became overwhelmed and left his program at the Weingart Center to return to his former lifestyle, which is all he had known for years.  His case manager went searching for Willie… “They cared enough to find me and told me that I could do better,” says Willie. “If it wasn’t for my case manager, I would not have come as far as I have.”

Willie not only completed his 21 day SOS program but also finished his 6-month transitional program, Open Door, which is also offered at the Weingart Center.  He’s moving out and has a job in a field that he loves, cooking/hospitality.