Bob and Betty: An Elderly Couple’s Journey through Unexpected Homelessness

Bob and Betty, a loving elderly couple, spent much of their lives secure and happy—working hard and living the dream in California. Unfortunately, the recession hit them hard: Bob, a contract worker, was laid off, there was no work to be found in his industry, and housing costs were quickly on the rise. They knew staying in California was unsustainable, so they tried moving to the Colorado Rockies and starting over. During the next 5 years, Bob found unreliable on-again off-again contract work and the couple were barely getting by. Social security was not enough to cover the necessities, and their savings slowly dwindled away.

Then Bob found a good job opportunity in Boulder, so they packed up along with their two cats and moved to Lafayette in their truck—a seemingly temporary necessity—when the job fell through.

So in the spring of 2019, the couple found themselves living out of their truck in an unfamiliar area with no money and no friends or family that could help. Their phone was turned off when they couldn’t pay their bill. They moved the truck from place to place every night, because they weren’t allowed to camp anywhere for long and their gas was disappearing.

“We were just floating,” said Betty.

Bob said they never imagined they’d be in such a situation: he was employable, has a lot of skills, they were responsible and have good credit. Things just shouldn’t be going this way.

“But we never felt sorry for ourselves or less than. People need to know that if they’re in a situation like ours, they still count, they matter,” said Betty.

But the couple stayed resilient and were extremely resourceful. Soon after being in the area, they found hot meals available at Josephine Commons and help from a local church they began attending. The Lafayette Senior Center became a place for Betty to spend the day, where she could shower, exercise, have some tea and muffins while Bob used the computers to find work. But Bob said the hardest thing to get was gas. No one really offered gas money, the truck was their only home and transportation, “and it’s a gas guzzler,” said Bob.

Betty said the hardest time for her was losing her beloved cat, Mickey, who usually spent every night curled inside her sleeping bag with her, but ran away while they were moving their truck. Weeks went by and they had driven all over town trying to find him. Then, after dropping Betty off at the Senior Center one day, Bob saw Mickey just walk right by him! Betty and Mickey were finally reunited.

The couple was initially referred to Sister Carmen Community Center for help with food, but they found so much more. They met with an SCCC Advocate several times and were eventually connected to Brittany, SCCC’s Advocate Manager for more support. Bob and Betty said that Brittany is a very special person and that often just having someone to talk to makes the biggest difference.

“We didn’t know where to go or how to get started. But this (SCCC) was a haven. The difference with Sister Carmen is that once you walked in, there’s like an aura of compassion, caring, and an outpouring of love. Everyone made us feel like we were doing okay, but they can help us get better. We kept reminding ourselves this would only be temporary.”

Not only did Bob and Betty get food for themselves, but they got cat food from the Pet Pantry that comes once a week, they were able to get connected with gas cards, money to cover some medication of Betty’s when it ran out, and most importantly, a deposit and first month’s rent to get into an apartment. In September, after five months of living in their truck and just as Sister Carmen was helping the couple to get housed, Bob finally secured a job! They moved into their new place and spent the first night in just their sleeping bags on the floor. The next day they woke up to the first snow of the year and were so grateful they didn’t have to spend the night in the truck.

After they were housed, SCCC gave them thrift store vouchers to help get settled in their apartment while they were still getting things out of storage. They are now happily settled.

“It’s important for people to know that it gets frustrating,” said Betty, “but if you have a good attitude that helps a lot.”