Eudaldo's Story

“My name is Eudaldo Mongaite. I sleep in the street. I sleep anywhere I can. I never drink, but I live in the streets. I have no choice. Earlier in my life I had a house, I had a family, but I lost my house, I lost my family, and now I am nowhere and I have nothing.

I worked for thirty years for Lucky Stores but now I am in retirement and cannot go back to work. I feel more safety in the Armory than in the streets, so I go to the Armory every night. When I can’t get a place I sleep on the streets. For the women there is no safety in the streets, but for a man there is more safety because nobody bothers the men. For the women it’s not recommended to live in the streets, but sometimes they have no choice. There are maybe 80 hispanic people in the streets. Only 20-26 people live in the shelter.

I had a fall from a ladder while working on a tree, and the doctors said I should not do physical work or my body would get damaged further, so I have to be safe. I have some money coming in every month from social security; that’s all I can get; it’s around $400 a month. It’s the money I use to eat and pay the telephone bill. I don’t have enough money to pay rent, even though a home is the best and safest place to live in. In the streets I respect everyone one hundred percent, so I’ve never had a complaint about my living in the streets, nothing at all.”