“I didn’t have to worry about where I would stay at night, where my next meal was coming from or when I could take a shower. I could concentrate on me.”
For Donald, the simple shift changed everything.
Donald is an Army veteran whose life took some difficult turns over the years. After a long battle with addiction, he eventually experienced homelessness and incarceration.
“Drugs cause it to where you don’t take the time to care about your family, your job — anything,” he shared. A prison sentence for motor vehicle theft marked the end of that chapter — and the beginning of a new one.
Upon his release in March, the Veterans Administration connected him with Samaritan House Greeley, a Catholic Charities ministry offering emergency shelter for women and families experiencing homelessness as well as an extended-stay program for women, families, men and veterans working toward stable housing. That’s when things began to change.
“They gave me a home. I didn’t have to worry about where I would stay at night, where my next meal was coming from or when I could take a shower. I could concentrate on me.”
At Samaritan House Greeley, Donald was connected with his case manager, Gil. From the start, Gil made a lasting impression. “He was very easy to talk to, very straightforward. He talked to me like a human. He understood.”
With stable housing, regular meals and someone to help guide him through his next steps, Donald began to rebuild his life. Now, he has a place of his own and says everything is going pretty well.
“I owe all that to Samaritan House Greeley. If I could, I’d give them a 5-star rating.”
Though veterans like Donald may have more resources available to them, he emphasizes that it was the human support — the dignity, stability and care — he received at Samaritan House Greeley that made all the difference.
“I’d hate to see anyone else go through what I did. But if they do, Samaritan House Greeley is the place to go.”