Welcome Me Home Again: A Resident Story of Housing, Healing, and Art

Sometimes home isn’t just an address—it’s the feeling of belonging to a neighborhood, to familiar streets, to the people and places that helped you find your footing again.

One TODCO resident (we’ll call him “Bob,” to protect his privacy) shared a letter with us recently that captures what stable housing can make possible over time: safety, recovery, community, and the chance to return to the work and passions that give life meaning.

A Door That Stayed Open During Hard Years

“Bob” lived at Knox SRO from 2012 to 2021. Looking back, he describes that housing as a lifeline—support that helped keep him housed for nearly a decade, at a time when losing stability could have meant losing everything.

Like many people who’ve experienced housing insecurity, he carries a deep awareness of how quickly life can shift. And he also carries gratitude for the steady supports that helped prevent that shift from becoming permanent.

Art, Memory, and the Neighborhood That Holds Us

One of the most vivid memories he shared was seeing the artist Rigo 23 at Minnesota Street Project—a chance encounter that helped reconnect people and support efforts to restore the InnerCity Home mural located on the back of the building where he once lived.

For “Bob,” that mural wasn’t just public art. It was part of the everyday landscape of home—something he’d pass regularly while walking his dog back from Draves Park. Moments like that remind us how housing is tied to identity: the places we return to, the walls and sidewalks that hold our stories, the sense of being “from” somewhere.

Relearning Photography After a Stroke—and Finding a Voice Again

The letter also shares how creative community became part of healing.

The 6th on 7th Photography Workshop & Gallery has played a major role in “Bob’s” life, especially through the support of Tom Ferentz and S. Renée Jones. With additional encouragement through 6th on 7th and the City College of San Francisco (CCSF), he worked to restudy photography after experiencing a stroke.

Now, his hope is to record portraits of people across San Francisco—capturing the city as it is, through the faces and lives that make it what it is.

Our 6th on 7th Photography Workshop & Gallery also helped mount his first solo photography show, a milestone he describes with pride and appreciation. It’s a powerful reminder that stable housing doesn’t just keep someone indoors—it can make room for creativity, connection, and purpose.

A Temporary Move, and a Longing to Return

Today, “Bob” lives in Oakland, where he moved to find a Section 8 senior apartment that meets his needs. He’s grateful for stable housing there, but he also describes the move as isolating—because his community, relationships, and sense of self are deeply rooted in San Francisco.

He is currently on the waiting list for Woolf House and continues exploring other Section 8 senior opportunities that might bring him back to San Francisco for good.

As he puts it:

“San Francisco, welcome me home again.
I’m coming home—to go roaming no more.”

Why Stories Like This Matter

At TODCO, we hear again and again that housing is more than shelter. It’s the foundation that lets people rebuild—through recovery, through community, through art, through time.

We’re grateful to “Bob” for sharing his story and trusting us with his words. And we remain committed to the work of keeping San Francisco a place where long-time residents—especially seniors, artists, and neighbors living on fixed incomes—can remain rooted, supported, and at home.

To learn more about TODCO’s housing and community work, explore the rest of our stories and updates here on the blog.