Resident of Woody Park camp grateful for the help

Before, Billy didn’t know where he would be sleeping or what he would be sleeping on.  But he knew it wouldn’t be on a bed.

Billy is one of the residents of the Woody Park campsite. Woody Park is a temporary, supported campground that provides shelter for up to 20 people who are experiencing homelessness. Funded by federal CARES Act money awarded to the city of Lawrence by Douglas County, the camp is managed by Lawrence Parks and Recreation and the Bert Nash Center Homeless Outreach Team. To learn more about the camp, visit http://bit.ly/2MtjRtB. With temperatures forecasted to drop into single-digit lows next week, Billy and other residents will have the option to spend the night at a local motel and return to the camp during the day.

Billy, 58, came to Lawrence about three and a half months ago from Kansas City, Mo. He had been experiencing homelessness for six or seven months before coming to Lawrence. “I had to start all over,” Billy said. “I moved here to start a new life.”

Billy doesn’t know where he would be if it wasn’t for the camp. But he knows he wouldn’t have had a bed. Or a cot. Each resident of the camp is provided with a weather-resistant tent, cot, sleeping bag and ceramic heater.

“If I wasn’t here at the camp, I would probably be living under a bridge or on a curb,” Billy said. “Everyone here gets along really well.”

Billy said his addictions led to him being without a home.

“I felt like my life was over with. I had just given up. I just felt there wasn’t a need for livin’ anymore,” he said.

Billy lost both of his parents three months ago in the same month. “My mom had cancer and my pops had diabetes,” he said.

Billy has been sober for about a year. With the help of others, including the Bert Nash Center Homeless Outreach Team, Billy is getting his life back on track. A friend, who is also homeless, told him about the Bert Nash Center.

“Ever since then, things have been looking up,” Billy said.

Billy works directly with Homeless Outreach Team case manager Sarah Novotny, whom he sometimes calls Miss Sarah.

“Miss Sarah and the people working here at the camp have welcomed me with open arms,” Billy said. “They are willing to accept us and talk to us.”

In the past, Billy said he found it difficult to ask for help.

“I had a hard time receiving help from people, because I was afraid of what people would think about me. I wouldn’t let anybody in. I always had this wall up,” Billy said. “I carried this weight all by myself. But Sarah gives me the opportunity to open up and say what I want to say and talk about whatever it is that I need to talk about. Sarah and the Bert Nash Center team try to do all they can to help a person. I know it’s hard work, but they have helped me tremendously to get to where I am at today.”

The Woody Park camp is scheduled to close at the end of March. In the meantime, the Bert Nash Center Homeless Outreach Team is trying to get Billy and other camp residents permanently housed.

“I have faith in them,” Billy said. “But right now, I’m satisfied with the way things are. I don’t need much. I just take one day at a time.”

And he is at peace.

“I’m more comfortable with myself now. I can love myself now. Before, I didn’t love myself. I didn’t want anyone around. I see life differently now. I feel like I have something to offer,” he said.

Billy hopes to help others, just like he has been helped.

“My goal is to work with juveniles, those who don’t have parents, who have grown up on the streets, who are doing drugs, those who gave up on life, like I did,” he said. “I think I can offer them some advice and let me know there is always someone out there they can reach out to help them out. You don’t have to give up.”

In other words, to help people who are in the same position he used to be in.