Steven has lived on the south side of Chicago his entire life, growing up at 35th and State Street in the shadow of old Comiskey Park. He doesn’t have a high school diploma, but has managed to find a variety of odd jobs to keep busy and make ends meet. Steven has worked as a janitor, a cook, in a warehouse, and fixing small items in a machine shop.
With the loss of manufacturing jobs in the city, however, Steven has been out of even part-time work for four years, and hasn’t worked full time for several years before that. Because of his unstable work history, he had trouble paying rent. He applied to the Chicago Housing Authority waiting list in late 2007, at about the same time he starting his long road of recovery from drug and alcohol addiction.
More than five years passed, and Steven had no luck in finding housing. He applied to five different locations, all of them turned him down. He was living in a run-down house on 79th Street with no heat, in a foreclosed building.
Fortunately, Inspiration Corporation opened an apartment building last year on King Drive. Steven’s name came up on the list, and he is now safe and secure in an apartment with his sister.
“God smiled upon me, and found me a house!”
He’s working on starting up classes again to finally get his GED and get back on the road to working full time. He enjoys going to regular meetings for his addictions, and has been clean and sober for the past six years. His faith is strong and he feels that it will carry him to a better place in his life. He’s very thankful for his home on King Drive, and doesn’t want to think about where he’d be without it.
You can read more about our Housing Services program here.