Speaker: John continued to live with family and friends. But his heavy drinking and anger only got worse. And his hosts always asked him to leave. He went from place to place.

Finally, when John ran out of people to call, he found himself without a place to stay for the night and started sleeping at the park. He became more depressed with little hope that things would ever get better and often thought about ending his life. John's ability to cope with his homelessness led him to engage in increasingly risky behaviors. He often found himself getting into fights, had begun to rummage through trash for cans and bottles, and now, had an arrest record for loitering and petty theft.

Winter arrived, and it was too cold for John to sleep outside, so he began staying at a shelter run by the church. Each morning, he had to leave the shelter by 6:00 AM. He walked the streets during the day and panhandled for money to buy alcohol.