"I was begging and praying for somebody to please help me," he says. "I didn't want to live that life no more. I would have rather been dead."
His parole officer suggested that he go to The Bridge, and in August 2008 after another drug relapse, Robinson took his advice. "They're actually helping people at The Bridge. They're helping people move forward with their lives," he says. "As far as helping you get back on your feet, reestablishing yourself as an individual and getting your life together, The Bridge is all of that."
Hal Samples
Ending homelessness in Dallas seems like some liberal pipe dream
—until you step into the city’s new shelter
Hal Samples
After losing her 20-year job as an accounting manager, Denise Way struggled to find work and became part of a growing number of homeless seeking assistance from The Bridge because of the recession.
Robinson, 47, has been sober since then and is currently one of approximately 75 previously homeless residents at the Village Oaks Apartments in South Dallas. "Fuck that gunshot wound and my drug addiction—that's behind me now," he says while staring at the keys to his apartment in his hand. "I'm grounded and rooted."
Charles Gulley, the city's homeless housing manager, says Village Oaks is a model that he hopes to replicate throughout the city. Its three onsite case managers work closely with the care managers at The Bridge to ensure a smooth transition. Gulley, who has fought obesity his entire adult life, says he knows how important case managers are to each resident, counseling them through whatever "demons they are battling."
Gulley says The Bridge has had a greater impact than he imagined, but funding stands in the way of getting more subsidized housing for those homeless trying to transition out of The Bridge. "Once you build up the hope, man you better be there to address it because you're dealing with somebody's life."
Funding for Village Oaks residents is picked up by the federal government, but Mayor Leppert and others successfully lobbied the state Legislature to provide for $20 million over two years for state homeless programs, and Leppert plans to include $50 million for the homeless in the city's 2010 bond program. Dallas also received more than $7 million from the federal government in stimulus funds, the bulk of which will go toward rent for the homeless or those on the verge of becoming homeless.
Because of the harsh economy, Dunn says The Bridge has seen an increase in the number of homeless without disabilities—people like Denise Way, who has been living in transitional housing in The Bridge's Services Building since April. But now, thanks to her job earning $10 an hour as a dishwasher with the Second Chance Café at The Bridge, she has saved enough money to rent an East Dallas apartment and regain her independence. And the best part, she says, is she was approved for the lease without financial assistance from her sisters or her cousin or even the government. "I am so glad," she says, beaming. "I got it on my own."
