Damian had a steady job working on fuselages and bulkheads at a NASA contractor for years when an accident shattered both his ankles. Doctors said he would never walk again, but he proved them wrong.
Shortly after overcoming that adversity, he was faced with another — his daughter was attacked. Damian took action against her attacker and ended up behind bars for over a decade.
After his release, he spent another decade living on the streets, staying at encampments dubbed the Hunger Games – so called because everyone was always hungry there, Damian said – and the Dead End, which then felt appropriate both literally and figuratively.
When Los Angeles County’s first Pathway Home encampment resolution came to The Dead End, Damian was among dozens of people brought inside, with help from outreach workers with St. Margaret’s Center, a program of Catholic Charities of Los Angeles Inc., as well as interim housing provider PATH. Damian has transitioned out of homelessness and is now living at a Homekey project called Aviation Apartments, a partnership between the County and the nonprofit service provider Venice Community Housing. His pet cats were even able to move in with him.
Damian is reconnecting with his family and calls his experience with Pathway Home a “blessing.”