Living Under a Roof of One's Own

Walter Johnson's caseworker took him back to the scruffy patch of dirt under a freeway in Washington, where for several decades he and other homeless men and women lived, seven blocks from the U.S. Capitol.

On a good night, Johnson shared tent space. On spring days, he enjoyed fresh tomatoes and figs from a community garden. Then, about a year ago, Michael Barton drove up in a van and offered him a new life in his own apartment.

"It was hard sleeping in that tent. I always wanted my own home," said Johnson, 63, who lives in a one-bedroom apartment in the Randle Highlands neighborhood of Southeast.

Johnson is benefiting from Mayor Adrian M. Fenty's $19 million effort to place most of the city's chronically homeless people into "permanent supportive housing," providing rent and access to counseling and other services. Fenty (D) plans to move up to 2,500 homeless people into permanent housing over the next five years.

But the plan is not without controversy. Homeless advocates say the mayor implemented his Housing First initiative last month as a smokescreen while closing the Franklin Shelter for men at 13th and K streets NW, a downtown property that is prime for development. And some members of the D.C. Council have questioned the program's cost. Fenty said it will cost less than running large shelters.

Johnson is in a Catholic Charities program called Fortitude Housing. Denise Capaci, director of Anchor Mental Health Association, a division of Catholic Charities, said that Catholic Charities has a contract with the city to accept 100 new clients.

"Arguably, the program has been very successful on a small scale," Capaci said. "What remains to be seen is how we do in the long term."

Capaci said that there is no single reason for chronic homelessness.

"There are many reasons -- mental illness, loss of jobs, you can't find work or you get into a routine of being homeless," she said. Some people need help with basic tasks of daily living, such as grocery shopping and laundry. Others need drug and alcohol counseling.

Capaci said that her organization learned last October about the people living under the freeway. Capaci said she will never forget one man she met there:

"He said, 'I haven't made food for myself in 14 years.' Can you imagine not making a peanut butter and jelly sandwich in 14 years?"

Catholic Charities is one of eight nonprofit organizations with city contracts to coordinate moving homeless people into permanent housing.