A day in the life of a homeless father of four

With help from Mary's Place, Anthony Battiste is making a home for himself and his four young sons in South King County.  

Anthony Battiste

Anthony Battiste (center) and his four sons (from L to R) Alvin, Abraham, Anthony and Chris at Popsicle Place, a program administered by Mary's Place that provides temporary housing for homeless families with critically ill children. (Still image from video by Aileen Imperial/KCTS 9)

 

When Anthony Battiste and his wife separated, he became the sole caregiver for his four young sons. Unable to pay the mounting bills on his income as a roofer, Battiste and his boys became homeless.

But Battiste and his sons have regained some stability with help from Mary’s Place, a Seattle-based organization that assists families who are homeless. Because Battiste’s 4-year old son Abraham has severe medical needs, the family qualified for temporary housing through the organization's Popsicle Place program, which provides temporary housing for families with a critically ill child.

As we follow Battiste and his sons during one recent day, Battiste reflects upon how the family became homeless, the daily demands of single fatherhood and how he is trying to move forward from his troubled past in order to provide for his sons.

"I have so much need of me in my boys," he says. "My boys are my life. My boys mean everything in this world to me."

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