TAMPA, Fla. — When I walk into Tampa Hope, a shelter run by Catholic Charities, I see an elderly man quietly sitting in a chair. I have a feeling he’s waiting for me. So, I walk over and ask.
“You don’t happen to be waiting for anyone, are you?”
“Yes,” he says quietly. “I’m supposed to be speaking to a reporter.”
I reach out my hand and introduce myself.
“Pleasure to meet you,” he says - this time a little louder. “My name is Ray Ruiz.”
What You Need To Know
- Homeless shelters like Tampa Hope are seeing more seniors
- Tampa's homeless seniors are facing a unique set of challenges, such as the price of rent increasing
- Ray, a 78-year-old man with his doctorate, is battling homelessness and cancer. He is currently on a waiting list to get housing
After a little small talk, Ray invites me to see his bungalow. It’s one of 25 on the property.
“This is it right here,” he says, pointing to a small, white, box-shaped structure. It looks like a small garden shed with windows.
When Tampa Hope opened in 2021, residents were housed in tents. But Florida summers can be tough to endure - even with fans. So, the decision was made to add bungalows. They hope to have 100 more by the end of the year.
Ray was lucky. He moved out of a tent and into a bungalow soon after arriving.
“I guess you could say I was promoted to the bungalow.”
As Ray searches for his keys, something pink catches my eye. It’s a heart-shaped wreath hung on the door of the bungalow across from his. Potted plants line the front of the bungalow next door. Others have adorned the outside of their ‘homes’ with plastic flowers. The ones that spin when the wind blows. It feels like a neighborhood.
Ray finally unlocks the door, and I follow him inside.
“It’s so cozy!” I tell him.
“Really? Everyone says it’s too plain and white…and orderly.”
He’s right. It is orderly. His perfectly made bed is on the left against the wall. On the shelf that runs along the back wall, papers are neatly stacked in a pile next to the books that he has arranged from tallest to shortest. Everything has its place.
“Unfortunately, there’s only so much you can have in here, but eventually I’m going to get a small desk and chair and put it there,” he says, pointing to the far wall.
I can’t help but notice the pride in Ray’s movements as he gives me a tour.
“This is where I keep my spices and coffee,” he says, pointing to a little nook in the corner.
To make the space feel larger, he keeps the white walls barren. No pictures or artwork. The only pop of color comes from the mauve-colored curtains that shade him from the Florida sun and a red and gold crucifix that hangs on the wall.
“Everyone said I needed to get curtains, so I did.”
This isn’t his forever home, but it’s his for now.
At 78, Ray is one of the many seniors to have passed through Tampa Hope.
According to Program Director Eric Marrero, there have been hundreds. The reality, he says, and what many people don’t know, is that many seniors are just a step away from homelessness.
“What we’ve seen here are those who have been on fixed incomes for so many years. Then the rents are raised, and the landlords are kind of like, ‘someone else will pay,’” he says.
Unfortunately, that’s exactly what happened to Ray. After graduating from the University of South Florida with a double major, he went on to earn a master’s in humanities and a doctorate in pastoral community counseling from Argosy University.
“My goal was to be a professor and teach Theology,” he says.
Sadly, that goal was never met. After a short career in ministry and work as a substitute teacher, Ray made a living working odd jobs.
“I think that’s one of the mistakes I made,” he says. “I always used to go for minimum wage jobs, and I never had the motivation or fear of leaping to getting a higher paying job.”
Eventually, at 62, he retired and began drawing social security. But because he never earned much, he only gets a little under a thousand dollars a month.
It’s much, but at least he had his apartment. That was until two years ago when his rent went up and he was out. Ray does have some family, but he doesn’t want to be a burden.
Without family and savings, seniors can quickly find themselves in Ray’s position.
“With the prices of rent and how it just increased over the last year so quickly, it’s like they can’t catch up,” Marrero explains.
Marrero also points out that aside from the financial burden, homeless seniors struggle in other ways too.
“A lot of the health-related issues. Diabetes, heart issues, also mental health, and depression,” he says.
Combined with fear, the physical stress from walking long distances and inadequate nutrition. Then there are the dangers that come with living on the street.
“Not being able to defend themselves if somebody younger, stronger, bigger, can intimidate them in the sense of taking their belongings — maybe financially,” he says.
Thankfully, Ray hasn’t had to face this. He can only imagine how hard it would be, especially for him.
“The only one I’m taking now is the low dose chemotherapy pills that goes with the radiation,” he says, picking up a small green bottle of white pills.
Five years ago, Ray was diagnosed with colon cancer. It went into remission, but it came back.
“It’s tough,” he says. If you’re sick and you’re out on the streets, God help you if you survive.”
Ray does have a car, but with a car payment and auto insurance, in addition to a cell phone bill and health insurance, he’s left with very little at the end of the month. So, when he feels up to it, he does door dash deliveries to bring in a little extra money.
“They give me special permission to do it,” he says.
Ray is currently on a waiting list to get housing, but until that day comes, he imagines it in his mind.
“Either a white sofa or a black sofa. Modern furniture. Nothing antique. It has to be ultra, ultra-modern like Star Trek. Ultra-Modern!” he says with a big smile on his face and hope in his eyes.
