According to the National Alliance to End Homelessness, the overall number of people experiencing homelessness in America increased by 0.7% between 2016 and 2017. Correspondingly, Bowling Green has experienced a notable increase in its number of homeless people in recent years. For four years, Floyd Jones was among this population.
“I lived under a bridge for two years. I got into drugs and alcohol, and I prioritized that over important things like rent and food. It took my money and left me with nothing. That was all I had left, and at the time, that was all I wanted...It was too late; I couldn’t get out,” Jones said.
After making making a “cycle” for himself of only eating when he was hungry and showering when needed, the cold weather finally drove him inside. Jones went to his first shelter to sleep on an actual bed and to have his first warm meal in a long time. While at the shelter, he also started treatment for drugs and alcohol.
Bowling Green has numerous ways to help out the less fortunate. For example, The Salvation Army has an emergency shelter, and Crossland Community Church hosts a program called Room in the Inn.
Matt Willgruber, a youth pastor at Crossland who helps run Room in the Inn, said, “We look at it as a seasonal ministry. It is a nationwide program that allows Crossland to help the homeless two nights a week, from October to February.”
Jones said, “Homeless people aren’t bad people; they are just people with unfortunate circumstances.”
Jones is now living in his own apartment and working at the treatment center he received help at, and he wants others to understand it can happen to anyone. Homelessness is not something anyone wants to think about happening to them, but it’s a struggle with the potential to affect almost anyone.
By Haley Hamilton
“I lived under a bridge for two years. I got into drugs and alcohol, and I prioritized that over important things like rent and food. It took my money and left me with nothing. That was all I had left, and at the time, that was all I wanted...It was too late; I couldn’t get out,” Jones said.
After making making a “cycle” for himself of only eating when he was hungry and showering when needed, the cold weather finally drove him inside. Jones went to his first shelter to sleep on an actual bed and to have his first warm meal in a long time. While at the shelter, he also started treatment for drugs and alcohol.
Bowling Green has numerous ways to help out the less fortunate. For example, The Salvation Army has an emergency shelter, and Crossland Community Church hosts a program called Room in the Inn.
Matt Willgruber, a youth pastor at Crossland who helps run Room in the Inn, said, “We look at it as a seasonal ministry. It is a nationwide program that allows Crossland to help the homeless two nights a week, from October to February.”
Jones said, “Homeless people aren’t bad people; they are just people with unfortunate circumstances.”
Jones is now living in his own apartment and working at the treatment center he received help at, and he wants others to understand it can happen to anyone. Homelessness is not something anyone wants to think about happening to them, but it’s a struggle with the potential to affect almost anyone.
By Haley Hamilton