Homelessness took this CT man by surprise. With help from a 35-year-old shelter, an end is in sight.
Josiah Mitchell, a client at Pacific House, chats with his case manager Mohammed Mamun on July 23, 2020 in Stamford. Mitchell, an out-of-work day laborer, will get permanent housing in Stamford in September.
Photo: Matthew Brown / Hearst Connecticut Media
STAMFORD — Josiah Mitchell’s life took an unexpected turn in the summer of 2016.
In August of that year, while Mitchell was living with his mother and a few other relatives, his mother fell ill and moved into a more accessible facility.
She turned over ownership of the family’s home to a relative, who stopped paying the mortgage.Mitchell, who was only making about $200 per week at a dry-cleaning business back then, found himself homeless.
“I was desperate at the time, and it was just me, jumping from one place to another,” he said.
Now, through extensive services at the Stamford-based Pacific House, Mitchell is only a few months away from finally reaping the benefits of living in his own Stamford home.
Pacific House staff have helped Mitchell apply for a Housing Choice voucher, which typically helps chronically homeless individuals, among others, to secure a home in the private housing market.
“He’s in the queue to get a voucher but has not received one yet,” said Rob Lockhart, director of program services at the shelter. “We hope he’ll find an apartment by August. It’s more than likely he’ll get it.”
The shelter’s primary focus on finding permanent housing is why Mitchell believes he’ll soon find a place to live, after four years of homelessness at various Connecticut shelters, he said.
“Pacific House is the only one that made everything possible and they’re helping a lot of other people in this situation right now,” Mitchell said.
Although the homelessness experience has felt “like hell,” Mitchell said, the long journey is “finally, about to pay off.”
His success story comes just as the shelter celebrated 35 years of service on July 24.