Robert’s Cribbage Table, His Corner of Community

Robert’s daily ritual hasn’t changed much. Coffee in hand, a classic Western movie playing quietly in the background, he sets up his cribbage board and challenges a friend to a game. What’s different now is that he’s doing it in his own studio apartment in Portland. “I wake up every day and I pinch myself,” he says with a grin. “It’s been almost a month, and some days it still doesn’t feel real, to have a place of my own again.”

Robert’s past several months have been full of challenges and unexpected turns. Before losing his housing in Bath earlier this year, Robert experienced profound loss—the deaths of his sister and one of his daughters.

The grief seeped into every part of his life, making daily routines feel heavy and unmanageable. Meals went unmade. Medical appointments were missed. Rental payments were out of reach. In February, Robert came to Tedford’s Winter Warming Center, looking for warmth and stability. Every morning, he called the adult shelter, hoping for a permanent bed. In April, just before the warming center closed for the season, a spot finally opened. At the shelter, Robert met Mason, his case manager. Housing applications piled up, leads fell through, and the process tested him in ways he didn’t expect. “I’ve had a lot of people give up on me, including myself—but Mason never did,” Robert says.

The shelter itself became a source of comfort he hadn’t anticipated. “It makes me emotional, honestly,” he says. “The people at Tedford became my family after I’d lost so much. It sounds silly, but the shelter became a real home these last four months.”

In his own studio apartment, Robert is finding a quiet sense of happiness. He says he feels “happy and calm,” and it shows in the small pleasures of his days. He’s cooking his favorite meals, especially his famous chop suey, taking walks to explore his new neighborhood, and planning a long weekend to visit his children in northern Maine. Peer support groups and counseling have helped him make steady progress on his mental health, and everyday routines—brewing coffee just the way he likes it, playing cribbage or chess with a friend, and laughing over stories from the past—give his days a comforting rhythm and connection.