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Housing is the Solution to Homelessness
Story of Hope: Troy
"I used to work in public service, but got in my own way nine years ago, when I engaged in self-defeating behaviors. I was on my way back up but I couldn't afford rent like when I used to have two jobs.
I began waking up in a doorway in downtown Boston. Every day, someone from the building would wake me up at four or five in the morning and say, 'How are you doing, Troy?’ The turning point was when an outreach worker from Pine Street saw I had been working on getting housing while in shelter and on the streets. He said, 'Wow, you've been homeless 10 years' and that’s how the conversation began.
Pine Street outreach staff are the kinds of people that don't come around often in life. On the street, we call this particular worker "Michael Jordan" because of his passion and dedication to helping us become housed - it’s out of this world. The impact that he has on a community of homeless people is outstanding.
I’ve been in my place since December. I feel like the coolest person in the City of Boston because I can see the Boston Harbor out my window. Things become simplified when you have a stable home and space to better take care of yourself. I’m very blessed and fortunate, thanks to Pine Street Inn."
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