Catie Profeta conserves water so she can have clean rinse water when she washes her hair and brushes her teeth. She shares food, money, clothes and other resources with others around her in her Hillcrest neighborhood, mindful to never block the sidewalk. Her degree from Whittier College is in Environmental Science, with a minor in Women’s Studies. When she was working Profeta always ended up the project manager, something she credits to her OCD tendencies. After a work injury left her jobless, then homeless, she is leaning on her analytical brain skills to suss out who to trust and how to be resourceful. She fondly remembers her Women’s Studies classes and professors as some of the most formative influences in her life.

Living outside for 15 years makes you forget certain things about the required responsibilities of living indoors. The transition was so challenging that Henry lived in a tent in the backyard for four months before a storm convinced him to sleep in the room he was assigned. Listening to the wind rattle the windows triggered memories of nights he’d spent in a tent or a car during similar storms. Being responsible not just for himself but for his dog Lulu made the difference. The key to success is changing your mindset, he said, changing your behavior. While he admits he doesn’t like dealing with change, the reward of finally having the security of a home with GLM Housing is well worth the personal work he knows must be done, especially when it means also adapting to a shared living situation.

Chris is a family man. His fondest memories are of the times he and his siblings, cousins and father worked at his grandmother’s thriving board and care business in San Diego. After years of turbulent relationships, addiction, prison, health issues and heartache, all he wants is to be able to have his twin daughters stay with him during visitations. He has battled back the drug addictions, but still struggles with PTSD from all the violence he witnessed in prison and on the streets. That, and betrayal by family and spouses keep him emotionally fragile, but he has housing now and is determined to get his twin daughters back into his life.