(Note: Krystal Steward is a Property Management Assistant at Avalon Housing, and a big part of her work here is to answer our phone and greet people as they arrive. As she attests here, she hears firsthand why they need supportive housing and how they come to our door.) 

My name is Krystal Steward, and I have worked at Avalon for almost four years.

I have to honestly say that before working here I knew that homelessness was a serious issue throughout the world and within our society, but after working here and seeing it as well as hearing about it firsthand on a daily basis I’ve realized that it is a much more serious issue than what I had ever imagined or thought before working here.

On a daily basis I hear some of the most horrific stories from women living on the street with their children, people living in the woods, vacant buildings, and garages. The stories I hear make you want to give the clothes off your back and the roof over your head to these people.

Here at Avalon we work from a waiting list, and once we open it it fills up pretty quickly. We get more applicants than we have apartments. Our waiting list has been closed since April, 2005. I remember feeling so excited when we opened it knowing that we would be helping alot of people. When we closed it I felt a little sad because I knew that it would be a few more years before we would be able to open it again. And, of course, there were more people who needed us and hand’t made it in time to get on the waiting list.

When I started working at Avalon my major in college was Criminal Justice, but within a year of working here I changed it to Human Services/Social Work. I switched because I am a people person and love helping others, but mainly because working here made me appreciate people even more and made me want to make a difference in people’s lives that are less fortunate.

Avalon deals with a range of different individuals - from the mentally ill, disabled, families, and homeless - and no matter what their background might be I have the same amount of respect and caring for them all because they are all my tenants and it makes me really happy that we can house them and give them a place to call home.