The wisdom of Terry “Gypsy” Woody has a certain vibrancy to it.
In a unique tongue reminiscent of his Scottish birth land and Texan rearing, the 60-year-old offers sermonic morsels through a graying tangle of facial hair.
“They say that we’re living the American dream – no we’re not. I’m not,” he said. “I’m living two steps below poverty. And I’m saying every day, ‘This ain’t a dream.’ This is a walking nightmare. It’s a nightmare that I chose, though.”
With only a small stash of belongings, a camouflaged tent and the ring of his late wife secured on a macramé necklace, Gypsy is on the precipice of his third winter living on the street in Colorado.
With a propane heater and ample food, Gypsy says he feels set up for winter. But he’s working with organizations in the community to find long-term housing – ideally before frigid weather arrives in full force.
“I feel like I’m getting to that age that I just can’t do this anymore,” he said, sitting by his modest camp on a November day. “All together, I’ve been homeless 24 years.”
Chuck Johnson is in a similar position.
At 57, Johnson has spent over a third of his life living in and out of homelessness.
His demeanor ranges from tender and self-reflective, to feisty and incisively critical.
Johnson had an apartment in Espero, the low-income supportive housing community in Durango, which he lost last fall after a conflict with another resident escalated.
And although he says he’s prepared for winter, he’s scared nonetheless.
“The cold is relentless,” Johnson said. “… And that’s the thing that scares me the most.”
La Plata County Coroner Jann Smith said two people died of hypothermia in 2020 and one died in 2021.
As cold weather arrives, Durango-area organizations are offering many of their usual services.
Manna’s Program Director Chris Andrews said the organization has one full-time street outreach worker who delivers hot meals to people in transitional housing, hands out sleeping bags and hand-warmers, and connects people living on the street with the organization’s other resources.
“As much as possible we’re trying to support … getting people housed,” he said.
At Manna’s headquarters, the resource center has more cold weather clothing and gear available at no cost. Basic warmth-providing gear is critical, several homeless people say.
“We need good sleeping bags – not (expletive) sleeping bags,” said one man, who agreed to speak on the condition of anonymity. “We don’t need ’em to go to Walmart buy $10 sleeping bags. We need (stuff) that goes down like 20 below, 10 below.”
The pain from his arthritis in the cold is “unbelievable,” he added.
Perhaps the most notable addition to the resource landscape this year is Community Compassion Outreach’s overnight warming center.
The compassion center, located on U.S. Highway 160 west of town, has for the last year been a place where people can come for a rest, to get warm and receive food. Starting Dec. 1, CCO received approval to run an overnight emergency warming center when temperatures dip below 15 degrees – but not a shelter.
“It’s exciting,” said Mike Todt, chairman of the warming center council. “This is, for many of us who have been working on this, a dream come true.”
The center will not have beds and technically sleeping is not allowed. It will operate from 7 p.m. to 7 a.m. and, critically, is a low-barrier shelter. That means pets are welcome and sobriety is not a required qualification for entry. At first, capacity will be capped at 20 people, but it can expand up to 40 people depending on the number of volunteers available.
Organizations such as the Community Investment Alliance, working with Manna, have achieved some success with bridge housing, a temporary solution to get people off the street before they secure a long-term unit.
Gypsy is still looking for this long-term solution.
In the meantime, he holds onto his personal optimism.
“Try to stay positive,” he says. “Hard times will come; they will pass.”
rschafir@durangoherald.com
