Milestone Place

Barry, who runs this shelter, is AMAZING. One of the most selfless people I've ever met, if every town or county in the US had a Barry.. we'd definitely be in a better place.

Milestone is a dry shelter that houses both single men and women (30+ rooms.. no children). I've heard it referred to as transitional housing because people usually leave after a few years, having found jobs and apartments. I volunteered here with a group during the day when the place was practically empty because most of the residents were at work or school. Any lingering stereotype that the homeless are lazy.. left the group.

The facilities were in tremendous condition, so I was really wondering what they needed us for! Barry gave us a complete orientation of the space and a tour, which included a trip to the volunteer wall.. pictures and signatures of every person that has volunteered at the place since it opened. The rooms are decently sized (some bigger than a single room in my dorm years) and are separated between men and women (they live on different sides of the hallway). About 3+ rooms are connected to a common room and each floor has a full kitchen and a TV room. The basement rooms have a pool table in their common room (which I'm told is usually a great get together place). Residents also have a laundry room and are required to help keep up the place (they're assigned chores, etc). Because it is a dry shelter, prospective tenants go through a vigorous review, which I found interesting.

As volunteers we helped cleaned the kitchens and we painted different rooms. It was definitely lots of fun. Barry gave the painters a boombox and we were rocking out with our paintbrushes out. Note: If you volunteer here.. check out their vending machine. Rap Snacks = Amazing.

We ended the experience by talking to the senior (methinks) caseworker of the place which was really awesome. A recovering addict himself, he seemed tuned into the situations of many of Milestone's residents.