Page 242 - Pathways News Today

I stayed in shelter. got my first apartment and im like 33. >> congratulations. while theyre out here building trust, their colleagues are building homes. with a creative mix of public and private financing. >> on behalf of your friends at urban pathways, welcome home. >> thank you, sir. cant wait to go check it out. >> after losing his mother to cancer and his home to a scamming landlord -- >> its beautiful. >> this roberts bipolar disorder could have led to a life on the street, but thanks to ...

Apartment like this! so what kind of future do you imagine now that youre in a place like this? >> the goal is to youn, start working. im going to get my social work degree. >> okay. >> give a little back. >> absolutely. give a little back. >> that is why angels of u ban pathways are my role models. i want you to hang on to this card. champions for change ch out there proving what can happen with a little old fashioned compassion and a new idea. you trust me? you trust me? you got him. he trusts...

Urban pathways are are my role models. >> i want you to hang on to this card. >> my champions for change, proving what can happen with a little old fashioned compassion and a new idea. >> you trust me? >> i trust you. >> bill weir joins me now. this group is doing such good work. >> it is amazing. already since we started sharing this story theyve been flooded with such compassion from people who want to either help out or need homes. never thought we would tract homeless folks who has this and ...

How did you get out. >> my parents didnt approve of me being gay so i left. i just got my first apartment and im, like, 33. >> congratulations. >> while they are out here building trust, their colleagues are building homes with a creative mix of public and private financing. >> on behalf of your friends at urban pathways, welcome home. >> thank you, sir. >> i cant wait to check it out. >> reporter: after losing his mother to cancer and his home to a scaling landlord, roberts bipolar disorder cou...

>> my real story is about these people. they saved my life. they saved my life. >> i think about that story a lot walking around my city and i wonder, if we repeat it enough times in enough cities could america rid itself of homelessness? you think about it this way. you see a sick and lost person on the street everyday, day after day, you feel sorry and maybe give them a couple bucks or buy them a sandwich. years of data shows us that good intention feeds bad habits. and a vicious, expensive cy...

>> reporter: so what kind of future do you imagine now that youre in a place like this? >> well, the goal is to start working again. i want to eventually get my social work degree. >> reporter: give a little back. >> absolutely. give a little back. >> reporter: and that is why the angels of urban pathways are my role models. i want you to hang on to this card, okay? >> reporter: my champions for change. out there proving what can happen with a little old-fashioned compassion and a new idea. >> i...

Folks are -- they are delusional and they are addicted in a lot of ways, they are antisocial so how do you help somebody who acts that way, but they just dont give up. they keep leaning in and -- sometimes it takes years to crack those sorts of things. robert, who has that apartment will pay about $400 a month, which for an apartment that cost about 1,000 bucks on the open market. he subsidizes but urban pathways say we subsidize lots of peoples home if you have mortgage interest and taxes peopl...

Them. >> reporter: in over 20 years of outreach, she has seen so many transformations including charles, her street team partner. you were on the street? how old? >> 18. >> reporter: really? and what happened? how did you get there and how did you get out? >> i stayed in the shelter. i just got my first apartment and im like 33. >> reporter: congratulations. while theyre out here building trust, theyre colleagues are building homes with a creative mix of public and private financing. >> on behal...

Place like urban pathways, charities that believe housing first. >> its not as complicated as it appears, if you can provide people with stable housing and with support, they in conjunction with you will do the work to find their dignity and to basically reach their full potential. >> reporter: which is different from the old model, right? >> totally different. >> reporter: a person had to get clean and sober first. they had to get housing ready, but years in scary shelters and shadows can make ...

As keeping him with alive and shelters and emergency rooms. >> ask any new yorker, would you rather spend $22,000 a year and have a person sleeping on the sidewalk or spend $23,000 a year and have that person living in an apartment like this? >> reporter: so what future do you imagine now that youre in a place like this for yourself? >> i mean, you know, the goal is to, you know, start working again. i want to get my social work agree. >> reporter: okay. give a little back, okay? >> absolutely. ...