Bill English’s day starts every morning at 4:30 a.m.
The 47-year-old veteran catches the 5:30 a.m. bus from Grace Marketplace to a local labor hall to find employment. If there’s no work for him, he returns to Grace at 6:30 p.m. for a bed in the pavilion. If he’s late, he’ll sleep in the woods.
Recent changes to the pavilion have made nights a little easier for English. On Monday, the pavilion became a night-by-night shelter.
The pavilion at Grace, at 3055 NE 28th Ave., is an outdoor shelter with 55 beds, said Jon DeCarmine, the organization’s director. In the past, people could reserve a pavilion bed for 30 continuous days but were required to make progress finding permanent housing. The pavilion now opens daily at 6 p.m. Beds are on a first-come, first-served basis and intend to serve people facing an immediate housing crisis, DeCarmine said.
Prior to the change, some people were repeatedly reserving beds in the pavilion without pursuing permanent housing, DeCarmine said.
“We’re trying to convey that the shelter is part of a process,” he said. “It’s not a destination.”
DeCarmine hopes transitioning the pavilion to a night-by-night shelter will encourage Grace residents proactively find permanent housing while providing a cleaner environment.
English said the pavilion was infested with rats and visitors’ belongings spilled off their blow-up mattresses. Rather than a temporary shelter, some people treated it like their home.
Now, the pavilion is cleaner and more spacious, English said. He pressure-washed it himself all day Sunday.
“Just because you’re homeless doesn’t mean you have to live like homeless,” he said.
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