Most of the Assisi House residents have jobs but couldn’t afford rent as well as meeting their other needs. One resident who didn’t want to be named was homeless while working a service industry job and making tips. Two residents said they couldn’t work but received a meager disability check each month, and moved into an Assisi House after crowding into a relative’s apartment became unbearable.

The Assisi House model has worked well for Quinton Adams, who was thrown for a loop a couple years ago when he was out of work and then he and his girlfriend broke up. It was hard to provide for himself, his girlfriend, their 2-year-old daughter and her other daughter when finances were tight. But since Adams moved into Assisi 1 nearly two years ago and got a new job, the low rent has allowed him to save money and make plans for his future.

“Right now I’m working on my credit to bring it up from past times,” Adams said, “so I can actually find a house to buy or rent to own. … I just want to be settled. I want to have me a place where me and my daughter could live for maybe the rest of our lives, have somewhere to call mine.”