COLORADO SPRINGS — Justice Lord never imagined he would be homeless. But after losing his job in 2018, he found himself on the streets.
“Due to certain discriminations as far as being a transgender male and having a partner of the LGBTQ community, I feel I was discriminated against, and I lost my job because of that,” said Lord.
A father of two kids, under the age of 10, Justice found himself trying to juggle life’s heavy load.
“We used to sleep in a car originally and then we ended up in a tent to which we were kicked out of that particular space we were in because that person didn’t want us there anymore. So, then we ended up back in the vehicle,” said Lord.
Finally, he was able to find housing at Family Promise before his family was transferred to city hope. Just for city hope to announce they were going to close their doors on August 30th.
But the shelter hasn’t closed just yet. Instead, 23 community organizations have come together to find more housing for the families staying at the shelter.
“Together we are able to help them so wonderfully to be able to move past that circumstance. It’s not who they are, it’s something they are experiencing, and they’re motivated to be able to move past that,” said Mary Stegner of Partners in Housing.
“Being stressed with the understanding that this place was supposed to closing Aug. 30 only to understand that Aug.31 that they were going to extend it until Sept. 30...People have vouchers, people are supposed to be getting emergency vouchers. My family being one of those families that is still in application mode for a housing voucher,” said Lord.
And while he hopes to find a place to live soon, Justice is also hoping local groups will be able to help the homeless with their mental health.
“And also, continuation of care so that the family with mental issues, instabilities and things like that are getting the care that’s necessary for them. Because the resources from what I understand are slim,” said Lord.
Mary tells me the groups worked hard to make sure that families have a place to stay after they leave City Hope.
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