Welcome to the “People of Pillars: A Portrait Gallery.” Every weekday in December, we will be sharing a portrait of an individual or individuals receiving services from Pillars as clients, tenants, or program participants. This gallery is an opportunity for the community to learn more about what the reality of homelessness is in the Fox Valley from those with lived experience.
It is important to note that all of the individuals featured in this gallery participated voluntarily and are willingly sharing their stories with you; however, their names have been changed to protect their privacy. Any statements, views, and opinions shared by these individuals are their own and are not endorsed by Pillars in any way. Conversations with these individuals were captured on Tuesday, November 2, 2022. Additional follow-up information about their journey to housing may be added separately as needed to bring their story up-to-date.
Chris*
This is Chris*. Unlike the others featured in this gallery, his journey with Pillars doesn't involve any shelter stays or time living on the street. Instead, he lives in one of the 134 Pillars-owned and -operated affordable housing units in our area as a Pillars Stable Housing tenant. “I was actually living with a friend of mine who owns his own place, so I was paying him rent for the time being. It was just a small two-bedroom place in Menasha, so there wasn’t a lot of room for the two of us let alone having my daughter more often. I’d been looking for affordable housing for five years, but it always seemed like I was in that weird bubble where I made too much to get assistance but not enough to afford it myself. It was just kind of that cycle, and it was getting frustrating after awhile. It’s not like the prices had been outrageous or anything, but I had always been on the cusp. I looked this program up, and I think I sat on it for a year thinking that this wasn’t a program I was going to qualify for because I had been turned down so many times. I stayed on the mailing list, and I eventually said, ‘Does this work?’ and it did. The place is really nice. I live in a duplex with two other neighbors that keep to themselves mostly. They’re very quiet. We kind of figured out a little system on how to take care of things on the outside. When we see each other, we’re friendly to each other in passing, but we have quite opposite schedules. […] It’s just been a lot of different pieces falling into place. Find a job that pays better, find affordable housing. One came, and now the other is coming along with it, and after that, I will probably move on in the next year or so and let somebody else come into the program to open it up to other people who might need it more than I will in the next year or so.” (Photo Credit: Adam Hilbelink, November 2, 2022) *The name of the client in this post has been changed to protect his privacy.
