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Tyrone is 48, and has been living at the Cohen House since 1998. He was born in Ogden, Utah, and came out to the Bay Area in 1983 to look for a better job. Originally, he moved to Novato, where he worked for six years at Emporium Capwell’s. In 1990, he moved across the bay to San Francisco, where he started his own business as a housekeeper.
Tyrone was diagnosed with AIDS in 1995, when he was working for
Tenderloin Neighborhood Development. At about the same time, his
roommate moved to a house in Oakland, leaving Tyrone behind. Tyrone
was friends with the manager of the Ritz Hotel on Eddy Street, so he
was able to get a room there quickly.
Over the next two years, Tyrone’s body began to break down, and he was
no longer able to work. It took two years of waiting for him to obtain
assistance through SSI (Supplemental Security Income).
"The Ritz was ok," he says. "Each floor had a kitchen, and aside from
a few people, most everyone kept clean and to themselves."
But, he worried constantly about ending up on the streets. He was
becoming discouraged, and he went to Las Vegas to stay with his sister
for a short while. Upon coming back to San Francisco for a doctor’s
appointment, he was notified that his name had come up to live in the
Cohen House.
When he first got here, he was shocked at how pretty the grounds were. Right after he moved, his T-cell count started to rise, most likely due
to lowered levels of stress and worry.
Since moving to Cohen, Tyrone has had a much better outlook, and feels like he can enjoy life more.
"I was excited to know that a place like this even existed," he says. "I just don’t believe that things like this happen to people like me."
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