Robert Semple is a resident at 144 Erb Street, one of SHOW’s residence buildings. He’s been at the shelter for a year and three months, where he spends his time volunteering in the community, improving the space and doing things he enjoys.

“It’s great. This is a good place to live,” said Semple. “I like to cook, so I have a kitchen, which I didn’t have at the shelter. And I do a lot of work around here, I volunteer here. I help with the gardening, I washed the windows this year, I painted the stripes in the parking lot, I do all sorts of things.”

Prior to living at his current home, Semple moved to Waterloo to live with his daughter in 2020. He soon had to find his own place to live when his daughter was forced out of her home.

Semple talked to many organizations who helped find housing for people who needed it. He ended up being on three separate waitlists and when he called each one explaining his need for a place to live, they said there’s thousands of people on the list and his chance of getting an apartment through them would take years.

“There’s only one way that you could speed that up,” said Semple. “Make yourself a higher priority and that is to become homeless.”