Last December, Ron was in deep trouble. A year earlier, he’d lost his wife. The radiation and chemotherapy that helped him beat oral cancer left him weak and bedridden. And now, with his savings running out, he was facing eviction from the three-bedroom apartment he and his wife had called home for 13 years. Ron, a former computer programmer, and his wife, a retired medical researcher, had been living without too many worries on their combined Social Security benefits. After his wife died, the loss of her benefits cut the household income by more than half. Keeping up with living expenses was a struggle, so Ron decided to use the remaining rent money to cover the cost of moving somewhere less expensive. 

“Then my movers bailed on me,” he said. Homelessness looked inevitable. 

“Three meals a day, studio apartment. The situation is ideal. My memory is starting to slip, the the staff at Glasswater Creek bring me my medications when I’m supposed to take them. There are activities – Bingo, corn hole tournaments, church services, and shopping days. I get to socialize with people in the dining areas. I get to mingle with everybody,” Ron said. “Before I’d eat whatever was around, usually from tins. Tuna, sardines, whatever,” he said. Prior to move in, Ron thought his situation was beyond hope, even when Family Promise and CICOA offered reassurance. “They told me not the worry, but I was skeptical. I was amazed how Glasswater took me through all the steps. It was so efficient. They took care of the bureaucracy, the paperwork. It all came together,” Ron continued. “I put all my eggs in one basket. I want to thank everyone for all they’ve done for me.”