Dave was ready to give up.

No home. No safe place to sleep. And now, a stage three throat cancer diagnosis. “It just felt like too much,” he says. “I was pretty much ready to pack it in and be done with it.”

The streets offered no rest—just cold nights, stiff joints, and the constant worry of losing what little he had left. The pain in his throat made every swallow feel like sandpaper, but the thought of starting chemo and radiation without a roof over his head was worse.

“You don’t know where you’re going to be from day to day,” Dave explains. “If I left for treatment, would I come back to my stuff being gone?”

That’s when Water Street Mission’s Recuperative Care Program stepped in. For the first time in months, Dave had a bed to sleep in, clean sheets, a place to keep his medicine, and people who checked in every day to make sure he was okay. “They made sure I made all my appointments and had my meds when I needed them,” he says.

“It’s a good feeling to know there are people out there who actually care and want to see you get better.” 
– Dave, former Recuperative Care patient

Dave traveled to the hospital for radiation and chemo, and came back to a warm room, a hot meal, and a team rooting for him. The steady hum of the heater, the smell of coffee from the kitchen, and the familiar faces of staff became part of his healing process.

“It’s a good feeling to know there are people out there who actually care and want to see you get better,” Dave says. “Now I’m a little more optimistic. I still have some hope left.”

Dave’s story is one of many where a “yes” from Water Street quite literally saves a life. And that “yes” is only possible because of friends like you. Your prayers, your time, and your gifts create a safe place for neighbors like Dave to heal. Because of you, he didn’t just survive—he found hope again. Thank you for making that possible.