John woke up in the same clothes he had been wearing for the past two weeks. He was lucky to have gotten a bed for the night and he had gotten a full night’s sleep because of it. But today was different; today he decided to try something new for himself.

John, who was reluctant to share his last name, is homeless. He decided to climb on a bus packed with other homeless people and spend Friday at PHC. He stood in line and got a free haircut. Another line took him to a nurse who gave him an HIV test. But what he said he enjoyed most was the change of scenery and the opportunity to do something different and unexpected.

For 25 years he served in the military. He served in Vietnam in the infantry and learned a lot about survival. After being honorably discharged he returned to Denver to start a new life. Without a college education it was hard to find work, so he started working nights at a Conoco gas station near his apartment. Soon John started hating the way his life had turned out. He started drinking. “A lot,” he said.

“Many nights I would go to the bar before work just to have a drink and end up waking up hours later in the alley out back,” said John.

He started missing work and before long he lost his job. With no income, the apartment was the next thing to go.

“I didn’t have anything. So I put all my clothes in a trash bag and I went down to a park where I had seen people hanging out the night before,” said John.

John has slept everywhere from park benches to ditches by the South Platte River. And he still likes an occasional drink. Each day he wakes up not knowing where he will spend the next night or what the day will bring.

“I like to live each day as it comes at me. It’s an adventure,” he said.

Sporting a new hairdo and the medical tests behind him, John left PHC with a DU plastic bag full of trinkets and pamphlets and got back on the bus.

He didn’t know where he would end up for the night or whether his stomach would be full.