Michael grew up in Waterloo, Iowa. His dad ran the largest church in the area and his mom worked as an elementary school teacher. Michael recalls doing well in school and having a blessed childhood.
He first became homeless 8 years ago and was most recently staying at the Bethel Mission in Des Moines. It was there that he first heard about CISS. He began working with a case manager to secure the necessary documents for housing and job applications.
Currently, Michael is participating in the Mulberry Farms Job Training program and resides in one of CISS’ Section 8 apartments. Now that he has the foundation of housing and employment, he looks forward to building more control and structure over both of those aspects. Michael wants to continue working on himself and achieving stability.
His long-term goals include using his skills and experience from Mulberry Farms to build an underground biodome in Tennessee, where his family owns some land. He enjoys gardening, creating abstract art, writing, dancing, and animals.
Michael also hopes to reinforce the idea that all people must work together—not against each other. Just like you can’t judge a book by its cover, you can’t judge a person either. You must get into the pages because we all have a story. #TheOtherSideStory
