I had been in and out of shelters for several years before I came to Jericho. It’s quite different than a shelter. At the last shelter I was in, you have to be in at 10 o’clock, you don’t pick your roommates. You don’t know if the room is going to stay clean, if you’re going to be around people doing drugs, getting you into trouble. Here you can come and go, you’re allowed to have overnight visitors, your family can come see you. Your life is your own—it’s up to you to do what you have to do for yourself, and ask for help when you need it. And they’ll help you. The shelter system per se doesn’t really help you if you’re not willing to fight. At Jericho, you don’t have to fight.

I hadn’t been in touch with my children for a long, long time. I got in touch with them here. I wanted to find out where they were, and I used the computer here, went on-line to find my family. My children are grown. I have two boys and a girl, eight grandchildren and one great-grandchild; they’re all in California. A few months after I got in touch with them, they asked me to come out for a visit, and I spent a nice holiday with them. Now we talk on the phone constantly.

I’m on Social Security because of my disability—I’m epileptic and have thyroid problems. I’m in the process of moving into my own place, “moving on,” as they say. I had help from everybody that was in here. I thought there were no rules, but there were rules. I very much approved of the different events: black holidays, barbecues, health fairs. There’s always children coming to visit, and the times alumni get together, I love that. We have information delivered, get help registering to vote. It’s a very good system. In September 2008 I successfully graduated from Jericho through the Moving On Program.