Khristina Simpson has worked as a home care provider for years – cooking, cleaning, washing clothes, assisting in anything her clients need. Sometimes she’d pick up work at Walmart for some extra money.
But when her rent doubled, 66-year-old Simpson wasn’t able to keep up with the payments. She was left homeless.
“I was stressed, I lost weight,” she said. “Stomach tied up in knots, and sometimes I wouldn't even have an appetite.”
After two years spent hopping between motels, shelters and even her car, Simpson finally found relief – last August, she applied for housing with The Bridge, a homeless recovery center in Dallas, and by April, she was in her own one-bedroom apartment in Plano.
“When I moved here, I told my son I died and went to heaven, it just gave me a new start, a new beginning," she said.
Simpson is one of 20 longtime Bridge clients recovering from homelessness who recently moved into stable housing. The Bridge pays most of her rent and provides furniture, dishes and other household items.
The nonprofit started 17 years ago to offer temporary shelter, three hot meals a day, hygiene services and housing opportunities. They also partner with local clinics that offer behavioral, mental health and substance use services.
While numbers have decreased by almost 25% since 2021, a January Point-in-Time count found just over 3,500 people in Dallas and Collin counties were experiencing homelessness.
"There's not enough affordable or workforce housing in our community, for anybody,” said David Woody III, CEO and president of The Bridge. “You can imagine how difficult it would be for an unhoused guest coming through our system."
Simpson and the other clients now in long-term housing will continue to receive support services based on their needs and be connected with a care manager.
Janisha Young is a housing care manager at The Bridge. She said her job consists of getting food from nearby food pantries even helping residents get jobs.
“This is something I would do that I don't have to get paid for," Young said. "That's what kind of joy it is.”
She provides care for about 25 people at any given time and said everyone is welcome at The Bridge.
“If you need help, don't be too prideful to come get it,” she said. “Because that's what we're here for."
Kristina Simpson said she's glad she was given another chance to survive with The Bridge.
"I want to keep my place, a place over at my head, without depending on staying with a man or staying with your relatives," she said.
These days, Simpson starts her days in her new apartment listening to a church sermon and drinking a cup of hot coffee with her two service dogs, Chase and Chico, whom she got when she was still experiencing homelessness. She said she’s happy and relieved to have a place where she can lay her head down at night.
“I like to have my own place, my own spot. I enjoy it,” Simpson said. “I get up... every mornin’, thank God, listen to church, and he makes the rest of my day. Every morning, every morning. I give him all honor and praise. I do.”
Olla Mokhtar is KERA’s news intern. Got a tip? Email Olla at omokhtar@kera.org.
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