Life in Site F

By “Homeless”

I came into Cleveland from Akron 14 months ago to go into a shelter which was F site. That was on Lakeside at a country building. There was a mat and a blanket waiting for me. I just was divorced form my wife, so there was a lot that was on my mind. Project: HEAT gave the homeless a warm place and a mat and a blanket to sleep. Life in a site is hell and no privacy is the first order. Up at 5:30am and out the door not to return until 9:30pm. It’s a long day out there and every day is the same.

Project: HEAT is limited with help. I would like to work 5 days a week. It’s a good feeling when you get paid! I would like for those days to return. The system does not think about a person’s well being, so you have to have a lot of heart to live it through.

Eating every day at a different church is a drag; Lots of pasta is the order of they day; making sure we are back by 9:30pm. The people see us line up every night to go into the site and they don’t want us there. We are the odd ones out.

Copyright the Homeless Grapevine and NEOCH Issue 4 December 1993- January 1994