A place of his own: East Texas nonprofit assists homeless man into apartment

Published 1:00 pm Wednesday, February 7, 2024

LONGVIEW — At age 47, Robert Allen had never lived on his own.

Now, he has a key to his own Longview apartment, where he has his own couch, a chair, a mattress and his own Keurig coffee maker.

He said he left a group home in the Pine Tree area about a year ago, frustrated with living with someone else’s rules as a grown man.

He couldn’t decide when or what he would eat and wasn’t allowed to go outside when he wanted, said Amanda Veasy, executive director of One Love Longview. The nonprofit organization provides a variety of services to help people experiencing homelessness, mental illness and drug addiction.

Allen has a speech impediment, making him difficult to understand. Veasy is accustomed to how he speaks and often translated for him during a conversation about how he ended up homeless and somehow found his way to One Love Longview on McCann Road.

“They were pretty strict,” Veasy said of the group home.

After he left the there, “I went everywhere,” Allen said.

He walked. He slept on Highway 80, or near it. He described it as a bad experience, noting he’d lose his belongings or they’d be stolen.

One Love Longview does not operate a shelter where people can sleep, although during cold weather, volunteers will stay on site overnight so they can let people without shelter stay in the warm building. But people are not supposed to sleep on the property, including on the porch.

For Allen, though, One Love leaders decided they had no choice but to let him stay. They couldn’t make him leave the front walkway where he slept. He is too vulnerable, said Veasy and Tina Rushing, director of mental health and addiction recovery services at One Love Longview.

“Robert’s situation is a little bit different than the rest of our clients,” Veasy said.

When Allen was sleeping on the porch, “we knew where he was, and that he was safe,” Veasy said. “We were working really hard to develop resources and get Robert off the street, but it takes time — 11 months, to be exact.”

Over a period of time, One Love Longview pieced together some of his past: He grew up in White Oak and lived in Longview. He has a brother and sister who have their own difficulties, Veasy said.

Through an evaluation, One Love leaders learned that Allen has an IQ of about 55 and schizophrenia affective disorder that is controlled by medication, they said. Community Healthcore, a mental health organization, administers his medication at One Love’s facility, which is on McCann Road near Marshall Avenue.

At One Love Longview, Allen is cared for: He gets coffee and food, friendship and help managing his finances. The organization provided him a bike. After a lengthy search, personnel were able to find an apartment that the benefits he receives pays for.

“My place is set up,” Allen said.

There, he can choose to eat in his living room or bedroom. He has a television where he can watch the DVDs he so enjoys.

“We remind Robert every day — he can choose,” Rushing said.

Veasy and Rushing explained that it took time to find a way to get Allen off the streets.

“We had 60 pages of denials of other facilities,” Veasy said. Allen didn’t meet the qualifications for admittance or there were other barriers.

Finally, they found an apartment for him to rent.

But for the people who watch over him at One Love Longview, that didn’t relieve how much care he needs.

Veasy described taking him to his appointment at mental health court — a good day for Allen because Veasy stopped and got him coffee at Starbucks and a special treat.

“What else did you get today?” she asked Allen, smiling, and then demonstrated how quickly he had consumed the treat. “You ate it in one bite.”

“Oh, a sucker,” Allen said, also laughing.

Veasy explained it was a cake pop.

One Love moved forward with the apartment because Allen had shown he was capable of getting back and forth to One Love during the day. He also had sometimes successfully stayed at a hotel on Marshall Avenue.

But keeping him there, making sure he’s OK, requires ongoing work and help.

“Tina and I take turns taking Robert to buy groceries,” Veasy said. Hot dogs are his favorite food, so they will cook his hot dogs for him and then refrigerate them in plastic bowls. He eats them cold at his apartment. The two keep his apartment stocked with snacks.

“All of us together have learned to operate his Keurig. He makes his own coffee at home,” Veasy said.

Rushing and Veasy said all of One Love’s clients have some kind of barrier or challenge, whether it be a physical ailment or a cognitive or intellectual disability. Allen is at the top of that list, they said.

Veasy and Rushing take turns checking on him each weekend.

His level of impairment means that this 47-year-old man who looks like an adult will often behave like a 5-year-old, something that might scare or confuse people who see him walking down the road.“We’re trying to get him a provider (to help him at his apartment), but there’s a long waiting list to get him assistance,” Rushing said. “I told Amanda the other day that I didn’t ever know we’d have a 47 year-old child.”

Veasy agreed.

“Robert is at his max capacity. There’s no advancing or moving forward. There’s not improvement,” Veasy said. “We are where we are, and that means we will likely care for Robert for the rest of his life. … We figure we’ll care for him until we die or he does, one or the other.”

Robert is a friendly person, Veasy and Rushing said. He moved into his apartment in October, and they already have had to tell people he allowed to stay there that they had to leave.

“Not everyone has his best interests at heart,” Rushing said.

Veasy said Allen had not been successful in all the other programs and facilities he’s been in. They would punish him like he’s an adult without taking into account the fact that he is intellectually or developmentally delayed. Now, though, Allen’s needs are being met at One Love, they said.

“What we do here is not a job for us,” Veasy said. “Robert has gained a family.”