Kenneth Davison, 64

I was on the streets for 20 years before Movement 5280 helped me get an apartment.

I had buddies freeze to death. I got frostbit real bad. I had so many trespassing tickets, if it weren’t for the folks at 5280, I’d probably be dead or in jail before much longer.

I grew up in Englewood. I was a welder. After my wife died, things just kind of fell apart in my life. I ended up homeless.

When you have no place to go, things get bad. Cold nights are terrible. I would just walk all night to keep my legs from freezing.

People take your stuff. I was always fighting. I’ve been robbed, and I’ve been shot. I lost trust in other people, which made it really hard to get help. Even those who said they could help, they would try, and they wouldn’t get anywhere.

One night I went to Swedish Hospital, and the doctors there told me about Movement 5280.

I had been robbed so many times, I had no ID, no social security card, no address, no phone. I was entitled to Social Security and food stamps, but without those documents or a way to get hold of me, I couldn’t get any of them.

There are housing programs out there, but it’s so hard when you’re living on the streets to use them. Waiting lists are years long. You don’t answer your phone because it got lost or stolen or broken, you’re back at square one. I kept getting trespassing tickets. One of the cops said to me, “you’re making a habit out of this!” I said, “I’m not, you are!”

Kelly Utter at 5280, she would sit on the phone with Social Security on hold for hours trying to get my account figured out. She got me a bank account and set up direct deposits.

It was still hard – my card kept getting locked, I’d lose my phone, and we’d be set back. But she kept working on it with me.

I didn’t believe it when Kelly told me they found me an apartment. I said I’ll believe it when I see it.

I still feel strange in there. I feel like I should be ready to pack up in the morning. Sleeping in a warm place under a roof takes getting used to.

I used to sit on a bus bench in the snow and watch the people driving by. They look at you with disgust if they look at you at all.

You start to believe nothing good will happen. I prayed a lot, and God gave me Kelly and Movement 5280.

Now I tell all the new folks on the streets to come down to 5280. The ones who don’t might not make it.