Syracuse, N.Y. -- Thousands of people everyday in Syracuse passed near a hand-built, two-room shack where a homeless man lived for nine years, and drivers didn't even know he was there.

The shack is within the city limits where you can hear trucks rumbling past on the interstates. It sits in a wooded area hidden in a swale where water runs through during wet weather.



The wood structure has a foundation, two doors and a window. It's walls are plumb and the boards fit snugly together keeping out the wind and the rain. The slightly sloping roof is covered with tar paper.



It's one of the most unusual living arrangements used by a homeless person the Syracuse Rescue Mission has seen, said Jim Hawley, an outreach case manager for the group. Homeless people tend to live in tents, under bridges or in lean-tos, he said.

"It's sturdy, well built like a camp," Hawley said. "It is amazing. It's not a backyard shed he's made. Even so, he shouldn't live like that."



Hawley and Amber Vander Ploeg, the mission's director of emergency services, took a reporter from Syracuse.com to the shack last week. With the encouragement and help of the Rescue Mission, the man who is in his 50s has moved into an apartment, but he occasionally returns to his former home, Hawley said.

The mission staff declined to put a reporter in touch with the man because they say he has mental health issues and would not be able to speak competently about his experience.



"He just doesn't trust anybody," Hawley said.



The camp where the shack is located looks at first like a collection of roadside trash. (The Rescue Mission asked Syracuse.com to not reveal the exact location of the man's shack to prevent others from using it.)



A set of rusting house keys is stuck on a tree limb. A woman's leopard print scarf waves in the branch of another tree. There's an old tire, an upside down bicycle that's missing a tire. An old mattress, pillows and blankets are wet and exposed to the winter weather. A fishing pole is braced against a tree.



Slightly away from the camp is a foot deep hole that looks like it was used as a fire pit.



It looks as if the builder scavenged doors, window and wood used to make the shack.

The metal white front door is in such good condition it could be used on anyone's house. Inside a windowless main room smells of damp wood smoke. There's a bed built on a frame that lifts it off the floor, a makeshift table, a shelf along the wall and hooks for hanging clothes.



In a way, the shack also has running water. Because it's built on a foundation that allows water to flow underneath, there is an opening cut into the room's floor that allowed the man to scoop out water that he boiled for drinking and cooking, Vander Ploeg said.



A second room in the back has a window in one wall. There is a work bench with chain saws that the man used to cut wood for his fires, Hawley said.



The Rescue Mission became aware of the man and his shack in October when someone reported someone was living in the woods.



Hawley began visiting the man's shack. He is the mission's outreach case manager for Onondaga County. Last year Hawley was able to encourage 51 people living on the streets to move into permanent housing.

How many homeless people are there in CNY? An annual homeless count on Jan. 25 found 22 people living outside in Syracuse and Onondaga County, but people come in and out of being homeless.

"There's more than you think, Hawley said. "These are people who are invisible."

Over months Hawley earned the man's trust. He brought him coffee and food. The men talked and every time before he left Hawley would ask the man if he wanted to move inside.

Every time the man declined.



The man receives Social Security and, on occasion, ate meals at the mission, Hawley said. At Thanksgiving Hawley brought four dinners to the shack.



The men developed a rapport, each visit brought more trust, Hawley said.



"He's very much a gentleman. Anyone who has met him has fallen in love with this guy," Hawley said.



By December, the man agreed to move into permanent housing provided by Catholic Charities. Hawley continues to check on him in his new apartment.



The man who didn't trust anyone? "He made me a set of keys to allow me in," Hawley said.





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