"Anybody that we think we can house is an automatic candidate for the bus."
Terrance Coleman’s new job as a night attendant on Orlando’s 407 Connect shelter buses will give him a regular view of a resource he can only wish he had when he needed it.
Coleman, a military veteran, was homeless himself as recently as February. In the six months since, he has found stable housing, a consistent job and optimism about the shelter he’ll oversee for others in similar circumstances.
“This would have been perfect for me,” he said Wednesday. “This is perfect for the person that is headstrong, may already be working and is trying to get one foot ahead. When I was in that position, the only thing I really worried about was where I’m going to sleep.”
The Christian Service Center and Orlando officials unveiled the two renovated buses outside of City Hall, which as soon as tonight will sleep people who otherwise would be spending their nights on sidewalks, under highway overpasses or in cars throughout the city. The program offers a small but meaningful boost to the insufficient number of shelter beds available in the area.
Read more at the Orlando Sentinel