Good Shepherd Village, the Catholic Charities affordable housing community in Happy Valley, is up and running smoothly. The building is what most people see – colorful, graceful, welcoming.
But the real stories are inside. We spoke with six new residents of the village and asked them about their lives and their sense of what makes a home.
Dan
Dan, a Navy veteran, settles in at the community room at Good Shepherd Village.
Dan, a Navy veteran, spent 17 years homeless on the streets of Portland. After working his way out, he cared for his aging mother for a decade. When she died, the specter of homelessness rose again.
But Catholic Charities set aside some Good Shepherd Village apartments just for veterans. Dan is set. In addition, the Veterans Administration and Catholic Charities teamed up to help him pay off a debt.
Dan wears his late father’s ring and places a keepsake of both parents at his bedside. He wishes them good morning and good night.
He wants to have friends over to watch movies and eat pizza. He’s a big fan of old westerns and comedies. As for pizza, he says his favorite topping is “all of them.”
Dan reflects on what home means to him: “Home is love. Home is cheer. Home is happiness.”
A and R
Snowball the cat enjoys a perch in the new apartment of A and R at Good Shepherd Village.
A and R – formerly homeless — are thrilled at how much space their new Good Shepherd Village apartment has for their cats, Marshmallow and Snowball.
This couple has a lot of love to give and at present, the cats are the purring recipients.
R’s favorite part of her new apartment may surprise you. It’s her bookshelf. It’s lined with the “Lord of the Rings,” her favorite series.
She says that the public may not realize how much intellect there is out on the streets. Now that she’s home, she says, there will be fewer obstacles to letting her mind fly.
Jackie
A blue glass collection belonging to Jackie makes her Good Shepherd Village apartment homey.
“I love my living room,” says Jackie, having not had much of one for years. “It’s homey, down to earth.”
Since she has a picture window with a view of the Good Shepherd Village yard, she has assembled a blue glass collection from garage sales.
“It’s so pretty,” she says as the light gleams through the vases, goblets and candlesticks.
She also hung up a collection of commemorative spoons from the various places she has visited over the decades: Crater Lake, the Oregon Coast, San Francisco.
“They bring me good memories,” Jackie says, gazing around her new home.
David
David, an Army veteran, shows the computer setup in his room at Good Shepherd Village.
An Army veteran and longtime millwright, David has room in his apartment for his considerable collection of tools and a computer desk. He’s savvy at efficient arrangements of gear.
At 79, he was glad to downsize from his home in Sandy into a place he could afford and where he can have friends nearby.
He once drove a tank and later maintained nuclear turbines. The simplicity of his own apartment is a relief.
Lisa’s husband gambled their house away and she needed a home for herself and her teen daughter. Good Shepherd Village came along just in time.
She has decorated her living room impeccably, including a collection of artworks featuring Marilyn Monroe.
“Marilyn worked with mental illness, and so do I,” Lisa confides.
“I love that it’s a new building,” she says, pointing to soft rugs, white lights and doilies. “And that I can make it girly.”
Also delighted with the new digs is the decidedly ungirly French bulldog named Chubby who patrols Lisa’s apartment and glares longingly at visitors until they show him a good dose of affection, including a belly rub.
“Everyone needs some love,” says Lisa. Seemingly in agreement, Chubby looks adorningly at her, his eyes watering.
Chubby the bulldog looks with yearning at a visitor in the apartment of Lisa, who lost her house after her husband gambled it away. But Lisa and Chubby have found a new home at Good Shepherd Village.