Shorty's Story

Milestones seem to mark his life.  Born in New York in 1945 with a father in the Army, his family moved around a lot.  He spent his own time in the Army from 1962-1963; “too late for the Korean War and just before the Vietnam War, but I was a foot soldier nonetheless”.   

He would prefer not to speak in great detail of the lengthy “gap of negativity” that bothered and followed him from Columbus to Dayton and into homelessness.  But he is not ashamed to say that he was one of the first clients served by The Other Place, “an original member,” in 1988.

Since then, he recalls the milestones with pride.  As this story is written in 2006, Shorty is celebrating 10 years of clean living through “self determination.”  He also credits a wonderful case manager named Tina. You see, as Shorty celebrates a decade of stability, his former case manager Tina Patterson, celebrates over 10 years of service with The Other Place, where she is now the Executive Director.  They have grown together.  In 1995, Tina linked Shorty to many services he was entitled to at the VA.  Sobriety in 1996.  Subsidized housing in 1997.  In fact, he still lives in that very same apartment, “home sweet home.”

A job program at the VA led to successful independent employment in the community.  He shared his original Employee of the Month certificates and Commendable Service citations to prove it.  Health problems caught up to him in the form of two strokes and forced him out of the job market. While now he struggles with vision and walking, he is still sharp and maintains his housing and takes care of his bills….and he keeps in touch with The Other Place.  He even served as an Advisory Board member.  He knows that both he and Tina will grow older together.  They are there for each other.

He remains an active member of our community….and for that milestone, we should all be proud.

At 60 years old, Shorty is an avid sports fan.  He retains and recites a tremendous amount of sports trivia. 

So, what is he looking forward to?  The Steelers to win the Superbowl, of course!

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