VENDOR PROFILE DAVID GORDON, HOUSED AT LAST PHOTO BY GILES CLASEN Denver VOICE vendor David Gordon recently received housing through the Colorado Coalition for the Homeless. He spoke with Giles Clasen about how adjusting to having a home has been good, but tough. IT TOOK A WEEK for me to get used to living inside. It is different having an apartment. “Different” is really the only word I can think of to describe my new apartment. It is like being in a new city or a new town. Your routine is different. It takes time to get used to your surroundings. Everything is becoming familiar, but it doesn’t feel like home, not yet. When you’re outdoors, sleeping in different places, you wake up, and you’re surrounded by trees, and air, and the outdoors. It isn’t comfortable, but it is familiar, and you get used to the familiar. Familiar was the most I could ask for. Consistently, I didn’t know how to prepare for a day, and I didn’t know what would happen. Every day, I hoped for a cup of coffee in the morning and a shower. But on the streets, the reality is you don’t know when you’re next going to get food or a shower. You don’t even know the next time you will be able to charge your phone. The grind was familiar, and I could navigate it. On the street, you go to a shelter, and you don’t know how long the line will be. You don’t know if you’ll get in. You can’t leave your belongings anywhere because you know they will be stolen. You could lose your clothes and hygiene products. If you put it down for a minute and turn away, it could all be gone. It wasn’t safe, but I knew that world. I was out there for 12 years, off and on. That is a long time to get your mind to accept that you don’t have a home. It is a long time to not expect anything but the grind. Now, my life is consistent, and I have a home. I wake up to the sound of the air conditioning going on and off. I have running water and a bathroom when I need it. It is odd to not have to worry about finding a restroom. It is peculiar to just have one when you need it. I am starting to like it more and more. I say to myself, “Wow, this is cool, this is wonderful. This is everything I was afraid to want.” I never felt I deserved it. That was the main thing over the last 10 years. I didn’t feel I deserved to be inside. But it is so nice now, I know everyone deserves the simple comforts. Hopefully, my time inside will be permanent and become as familiar as the streets once were. August 2025 DENVER VOICE 7
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