After my four tours in Iraq, I came back and then I was shipped off to Afghanistan, where
I spent three years
And it was a living nightmare.
But it really wasn't nothing like living out on the streets here in Juneau
[Narrator] The Juneau Housing First Collaborative wants to add 45 more residential units
Rent is based on income, and sobriety is not required to live there
When I first moved in here I did not think about sobriety happening for me.
But since I've been here and I'm able to...
I have access to these things
the clinic here, and I'm able to go home and be in a safe place,
a safe environment - yes, definitely a place like this helps
[Narrator] The facility currently has 32 units for highly vulnerable individuals
For a woman on the streets it's pretty dangerous... very dangerous
If you don't have another half with you,
if you don't have a boyfriend with you and you're on the streets, it's pretty dangerous
I was sleeping at our spot and I was alone,
and a guy had tried to push himself into my sleeping bag
He said he was just trying to get warm, but that was terrifying.
And I warned him, I told him to get out of my sleeping bag, you know.
And luckily he listened to that.
[Narrator] A new study shows a big drop in usage of emergency services for people who
moved into the facility
Housing First is asking the City and Borough of Juneau for a $4.2 million commitment
They hope to find additional funding that would bring the city's share down to $1.5 million
It took some getting used to and everything
I mean, it was nice to be able to take a shower whenever I want, and go to the bathroom
Being out on the streets, at 2 o'clock in the morning, there's no place to go to the
bathroom, so I got to find someplace out in the woods...
You're trying to get some rest, you only got certain hours.
You start sleeping around midnight hopefully,
get woken up by whoever's coming out of the bars
and whatever may be going on, any kind of hassle
And then cops come around, around 5, 6 o'clock, wake you up
and then you gotta keep moving for the rest of the day
You're walking around all day, trying to place to find rest, trying to sit down,
you know, relax for a second
But that can't happen - you don't have your own space
People come up to you and "You want a drink?"
And you're like, "What else am I going to do?"
You know, here I can go into my room - I might be frustrated,
might have an anger management problem that day,
but I can go into my room, close the door, and deal with it in a healthier manner
I'm an alcoholic.
I will not denounce that
Sometimes my appetite's just not there,
you know, when I'm hung over or whatever I just cannot eat nothing
But when my appetite is there I need to answer it, and it's nice to be able to do that
Because I got a, you know I got a kitchen up there and everything
Well, I'm sober longer.
My addiction is alcohol,
that's the way I deal with the depression and frustration and stress.
It's something I've used for a long time
Now, I see myself possibly even making this as a stepping stone
and getting back out on my own hopefully, I don't know
I see a lot of help here
I was sober for a couple weeks, I drank a couple days ago, and it was just a few drinks
that night and I sobered up the next day
If I were out on the street I would have woke up that next day,
someone would have came over and it's like "Hey, what are you doing Mary?"
You know, that's right there in your face.
You know, here I can lock the door.
[Interviewer] How is your drinking habits, how have they changed from when you were living on the street?
I've found it's actually... cut off a lot.
Because I sleep a lot more
I get out there and I work, you know.
You know, like, my sister needs me a lot
I go and I babysit my nieces and my nephew and everything.
It's being with my family, and this is the only family I have left
because when I was brought back from Afghanistan,
I was brought back because my twin brother was killed.
Oh please don't think of us as just people just pushed aside, you know, I mean, pushed
aside to die of alcoholism or whatever
Give us a chance.
I mean, I could...
I know I could benefit from this place, and if I can somebody else can
I'm going to keep going back to the fact that I have these, this help at the tips of my fingers
I'm here, I'm able to call down to the office and say I need to see, talk to the nurse,
I need to talk to JAMHI or, you know...
I can't describe the need for something like this, especially if you've been on the streets
for years and years and years
And people, they only see the surface - they don't see what's underneath, they don't know
They don't know where you came from, they don't know what you dealt with,
they just see what's lying on top, they don't see the rest of it.
I still have a lot of friends out there on the street and everything.
I think about them all the time.
Unfortunately, I'm only allowed to have a friend over one night a week.
I mean, they're out there six other nights a week,
going through what I was going through when out there.