Shannon has been living in Denver for five years after coming from Arizona and says the experience of homelessness was new and disorienting at first. After finding her way to a park and meeting people on the street she decided she prefers sleeping outside to using shelters because of theft, unsanitary conditions, and a culture of judgment; she describes giving away what little she had to people worse off than her and learning to value her life through the hardship.
Over years on the street she fought rising alcoholism, held short-term food-service jobs (including Popeyes), reclaimed herself by stopping drinking, and began online college at Colorado Technical University working toward an associate degree in Administrative and Health Services because she wants to open a better, more humane shelter. Throughout she stresses dignity, respect, and community: she refuses to judge others, tries to bring peace where she can, and is now deliberately choosing positive steps—school, steady work, and supporting others—to move out of homelessness.
