Mark: “Bring Them to Their Better Selves”

It has been said that homelessness is something that anyone might experience, simply through misfortune. It can literally happen to anyone.

Mark is living proof of this.

He is an accomplished person with a strong professional career, and has held tech and managerial jobs in multiple countries.

Yet, he was one of many who experienced homelessness during the pandemic.

Mark, a member of Abode’s Lived Experience Advisory Board, is no longer unhoused – he now lives in supportive housing in the South Bay. He wants to use the lessons learned during that time to help others going through the same thing.

But around two years ago, Mark was in a much different place. He had a home and solid income and was in Europe visiting his grown children when the Covid lockdown was announced, making him unable to travel home for several months.

By the time he made it safely back to his Southern California home in late 2020, Mark was met with bad news that destabilized his life. He and his longtime partner broke up and, immediately, he had no home of his own.

Mark next joined one of his best friends, who was experiencing homelessness in the Bay Area. Together, they stayed in a Santa Cruz shelter for about a year.

It was a strange and harrowing experience for Mark, who had never before been unhoused. He describes the year he spent in a South Bay shelter as “traumatic and enlightening.”

“You’re living cheek-to-cheek with people who are suffering,” he said. “I learned a lot about perceived loneliness. The experience was very alienating.”

However, good news was around the corner.

A shelter employee referred him to an Abode employee who helped Mark and his friend move into a hotel. From there, they worked further with Abode on gaining permanent supportive housing.

Years prior, Mark had earned a Master’s degree in computer systems management and had earned a good living while on two separate career paths: IT management and construction.

Mark now wants to return to full-time work, using his education and versatile skills to help agencies like those that have helped him.

“My desire is to get back into project management, preferably with a nonprofit group,” he said. “It’s important for me to work where I believe in what the organization does.”

Mark said that he admires Abode employees because they have chosen to work at an agency “whose purposeful and humanitarian values” are consistent with their own.

He views his work with the LEAB board in a similar vein, as it allows members to use their lived experience to help others who are currently unhoused.

“I wanted to try the LEAB board because I do want to contribute back to Abode and what it represents,” he said. “I’m glad I did because it’s given me insight into Abode – the people I’ve met have all been outstanding. I have nothing but positive feedback about it.”

He also aims to rejoin the the work force, hoping that he can help people with his varied set of professional skills.

“I want to help people who are suffering – to provide them with joy and satisfaction and a certain sense of proprietorship, where they can take care of themselves,” he said. “It’s important for people to feel a sense of pride in order to move forward and find solutions for themselves – to bring them to their better selves.”