Dale's Tale

“There’s a place for everyone” -Dale

Building an airplane model requires patience and persistence.  Much the way he carefully builds models, Dale is piecing together a better life than the one he has recently experienced.  Independent living was not an issue until he experienced serious medical issues.

Dale is a third generation mechanic.  He worked for his father then earned a Master Mechanic degree from Sinclair.  Afterwards, Dale served five years in the Navy, two-and-a-half in Vietnam on an assault boat until he was injured by a rocket propelled grenade.  Dale then came back and worked as a mechanic.  Around 1999, Dale had a stroke that rendered him unable to remember or do much beyond basic living.  “There are large gaps I don’t remember.  Savings lasted about three years, then ran out.  Stuff got bad then.”   Family options ran out too.  He found The Other Place and his journey back to housing began. 

Dale shares thoughts on homelessness:
“You feel like you are always alone, even in a crowd.  Most folks want to belong and you don’t get to.  It hurts the inner soul.  To those who have homes, don’t make assumptions about homeless folks, those stereotypes might cause you not to want to help out.”

Through The Other Place shelter and case management, Dale was placed at the Iowa Avenue Project which is local permanent supportive housing for formerly homeless men.  Dale is there now and The Other Place continues to work with him.  For his future, Dale wants to regain more memory and “thinking ability”, and once again drive and work.

Dale’s airplane model and new life are similar, built one step at a time and each step needing a fair amount of preparation to turn out right.  A variety of tools assist him, each having its own specialty.  Piece-by-piece, step-by-step it takes shape and begins to function.  Done right, the end product is quite beautiful. 

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