Sick and Cold, Disliking the Shelter and Motels
William, who lives off disability payments, spends a few nights here and there in motel rooms to shower, and then goes back to living in his truck, as he battles cancer. He says over long periods he prefers his truck to places with bedbugs and cockroaches.
He tried sleeping at the main shelter for a while, but said he didn’t like it at all, as close quarters with so many others in dire predicaments wasn’t his style either. “I had to literally fight people who wanted to take my stuff. My shelter experience was very bad. A lot of the homeless people are mentally ill and they are doing some very weird stuff and they're right there next to you, you can smell their breath. I'm already sick. I've already got cancer and I don't need to get more sick. I'd rather be in the streets,” he said.
The Arizona native says he helps others out who are living on the streets, such as taking someone to the hospital once after they got stabbed. He says police have gotten to know him, which works in his favor. “They know that I'm not a bad guy. They see me and they know that I'm homeless,” he said. “I do the right things.”
Dangers of Lack of Housing
During the winter, he says staying warn is a major challenge, especially since you can’t legally light your own fires. Even though he’s not a fan of most motels, he says it’s unfortunate, especially during the winter, when you see more and more of them being bought up and then demolished.