Sam — From a Car to a Home

“A year ago, I was sleeping in my car,” Sam reflects. “Now, I wake up every morning in my own apartment. It still feels unreal.”

Sam grew up in Boston, the only boy among five sisters. “I was always getting into trouble as a teenager,” he recalls. “My mom and uncle encouraged me to join the Army because they thought it would give me discipline.”

Life in the service was challenging for Sam. “I enjoyed the structure, but I developed heart murmurs as a result of working in unhealthy conditions related to waste management,” says Sam. “After seven months, I was medically discharged back to Boston.”

After the Army, Sam began working as a carpenter. “I couldn’t afford my own apartment, so I rented rooms in people’s homes,” he explains. “Then one day, someone’s son needed a place to stay, and they told me I had to leave.”

With nowhere to go, Sam began living out of his car. “It was the middle of a brutally cold winter,” he remembers. “There were below-zero nights, and I ended up getting pneumonia. I knew I needed help.”

Everything changed when Pine Street’s veterans outreach team connected with him. With help from his case managers, Sam moved into Pine Street’s veterans housing and eventually into his own apartment. “If it weren’t for Pine Street, I’d still be sleeping in my car,” Sam says.

“Seeing Sam’s transformation has been amazing,” shares Ellie del Valle, veterans outreach clinician and Sam’s former case manager. “He went from living in his car and getting support from the outreach team to finding a home. It’s great to see him thrive in his new community.”

Today, Sam shares his home with his service dog, Sora, who helps him manage his post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD). “My health issues keep me from working right now,” shares Sam. “But I hope to one day give back and help someone the way Pine Street has helped me.”