“I had a normal life and there were even times in my life where I was making good money,” William Mattis said. “Things that would never make you think you are going to wind up here one day, or minor things that happen at the same time and BOOM it all blows up.”

William, 75, is a resident who has lived at Mission First Housing Group’s Northeast II – Ditman, a garden-style, affordable housing community located in the Holmesburg neighborhood of Northeast Philadelphia, for over a decade. He has weathered adversity to find a home with us, where he is now living “happy and stress-free”.

In the late 1960s, William was in college and saw what was happening in Vietnam and decided he wanted to support our country during that turbulent time of war and riots.

“Our parents are the ones that saved the world in World War II and that was a hard bar to set,” said William. “I was just sitting there thinking, I am here hiding in college when other people were there.”

William dropped out of school and enlisted in the United States Marine Corps, serving in Vietnam from 1969-1971. Though it was treacherous, William knows it was the best decision for him at the time, and was glad that he stepped up.

When he returned home from the war, William, like many other soldiers, needed to find their place again. He was not 19 anymore, neither in age nor maturity, and did not feel returning to college would be a wise choice. He started his own carpet and upholstery cleaning business to support himself and was thriving.

An emotional falling out with his family was a turning point in William’s life, that left him with a decision to make about what to do next. He decided to move to Philadelphia and start working in construction to support himself.

After several years in Philadelphia, he decided to find a place in Center City, but the move did not work out as planned. On the day that he moved into his new apartment, there was a fire and William lost everything.

“I had on my list to get renter’s insurance, but who thinks it is going to burn down the day you move in. What went from a minor thing, turned into a major situation,” said William.

Having lost all of his possessions and with no family to fall back on, William was homeless.

“Things were moving along for me really well and then just out of the blue a few weeks later, I am living in my truck in the coldest winter ever recorded in Philadelphia.”

Trying to figure out where to turn, William reached out to The Veterans Administration, where he was receiving his healthcare benefits. The VA referred William to Columbus Property Management, Mission First’s property management arm. We found William a home on Rhawn Street in North Philadelphia. After a year in that apartment, he was relocated to his current home of 10 years.

“I really appreciate that [Mission First] had the foresight to hook up with the VA and work with that program. That provided me with something at a time when I desperately needed it.”

William has had three heart operations and spends a lot of his time concentrating on his health and wellness. Having stable housing allows William to focus on himself. He is happy to have his home to relax and watch tv and live a peaceful life alongside his “best friend” Alley, his cat. “That cat is a lifesaver for me, because I am in a situation where I have no family and my friends have passed.”

It has been a tough road, but William is where he wants to be and hopes to impart empowering messages to others experiencing or at-risk of homelessness.

William believes that it was his experience as a Marine that helped him navigate the many challenges of being homeless. He said, “I never even collected unemployment before, so all of this was very new. You need to be resilient and see what resources are available. That’s how I did it, one thing at a time.”

After his multiple misfortunes, including a flood in his previous apartment while lacking flood insurance (he has learned his lesson now), he racked up over $20,000 in credit card debit just to get by with his bills. He was just paying minimums and covering finance charges – the stress of the debt was overwhelming and put him in a place where he had to analyze how to support himself, his health and pay the fees.

Desperate for a solution, he turned to online resources and found a great program that assists with debt resolutions, allowing him to pay an affordable fee to have the company reconcile his debit with the creditors.

“Once I was in a hole, I could not dig deeper. Just getting that out of my hair. My life is so much easier now that I do not have to worry about that.”

Not only has William helped himself, but he has helped others by sharing the program with our staff. Once he was set up, William connected with our Regional Director of Resident Services Christian Hobson so he could spread the word to other residents.

“Mr. Mattis took it upon himself to share the story and the information to help other residents in the building,” said Christian. “Knowing that I am a resource, he figured I could share the information with people facing a similar situation.”

Christian is working with residents at Northeast II-Ditman to help set them up and he will begin meeting with our Resident Services teams across our portfolio to share the successes of the program.

William likes to work with our Property Management and Resident Services teams. “You can tell when they ask a question, they care what happens to you.” And we feel the same about William in the way that he cares to share his successes with his fellow residents.

When asked about his apartment and his community, William said, “I love it. I absolutely want to die here,” in other words this is home and where he plans to live of the rest of his many years. “I have got myself in a position that I like over the last 10 years and things are smooth sailing.”