Michael calls himself a soldier and a survivor.
A resident of Del Norte Veterans Apartments in Denver, Michael, 50, says he was in the U.S. Army for “10 years, five months and six days.”
Michael grew up in Westminster, but he traveled the world in the Army, seeing action in Kosovo in 1999.
“It’s not like Hollywood, no danger music,” he says of his time in the military. “I was just doing my job.”
After his years in the service, he worked as a laborer, but ended up being homeless for eight years, living under bridges and in fields. A fellow homeless veteran helped him contact Veterans Affairs and Michael got a room at Del Norte.
Bienvenidos Food Bank provides food to the veterans in the 26-unit apartment building. Michael appreciates being able to live with his fellow soldiers – and the food from Bienvenidos.
“It’s good to be able to get food when you need it,” he says. “There were so many days when I was homeless and didn’t have any.”