Any effort to end homelessness must start with meeting those experiencing it where they are. I am living proof of that.
When I heard that Father Joe’s Villages was transitioning the focus of the Paul Mirabile Center to detox beds and sober recovery services, it made perfect sense and brought me a lot of hope. I know, firsthand, that this is precisely what our community needs.
My name is Gabriel. I am a son, a brother, a friend, an employee, and a student.
I am also much more than that. I am a gay man, a person in recovery, a domestic and sexual assault survivor, and I am a person who has experienced homelessness on the streets of San Diego.
These identifiers cannot be defined by appearance alone. If we were each asked to come up with a stereotype of what a homeless addict with mental health challenges looks like, I do not believe I fit the mold of how people think a person experiencing homelessness should look or behave. I made some decisions that had a domino effect on my life. And when those dominoes fell, they fell fast. Although I did not plan for that to be my reality, it happened before I even realized it.
My days were spent trying to find food and a safe place to park my car, so I could sleep. While my life has always been marked with tragedy, it has also been filled with resiliency and survival. My time experiencing homelessness was no different.
I spent months in 2022 unhoused and living in my car. Eventually, I connected with a caseworker at Family Health Center who referred me to Father Joe’s Villages, where I spent a year living in a transitional shelter bed.
Initially, I did not know what to expect and wanted to run out of fear, but my options were nil. I arrived at Father Joe’s village in June 2023. I was grateful not to worry about where my next meal would come from or where I would sleep, but the road ahead wasn’t easy.
Many times, I wanted to give up, but I refused. Instead, I sprang into action. I needed a goal to strive for, so I got a job at a temp agency and enrolled at City College.
In May 2024, I found a place to live. Now, I am 100% financially independent and am in my third semester at City College. My life today is better than I could have imagined. I stayed vigilant and focused. I am grateful that I had a place to center and ground myself.
Part of ending homelessness is meeting people where they are at. Substance use disorder can be a major barrier to exiting homelessness. Initiatives focused on helping those experiencing it are critical for lasting change, whether that be through detox, counseling or providing life-saving medications, like Naloxone.
Depending on what a person needs, providing the right resources and support to counter and treat the symptoms of substance use will help increase the odds of success when they get into permanent housing. Because of that, the new detox facility at Father Joe’s Villages will be a game-changer, and I am grateful to have played a part in affecting change in our community.
I am living proof that many of us are just one choice away from falling into homelessness. While my journey with homelessness was brief, I have an incredible amount of respect for our unhoused neighbors. They live in a world that sees them as a problem to be dealt with, if they even see them at all. They live in a world that often fears them without trying to understand them.
I am grateful to Father Joe’s and all organizations that seek to see the unhoused population and validate their experiences. I hope more do the same. May we lead with compassion and respect. Only then can real change come to fruition.
Gabriel Gallegos is a client of Father Joe’s Villages.
