No longer homeless, man returns to Landing to give back

Aug. 2—When Steven Wallace didn't have a place to stay, he landed at the Landing MN.

Last week, after moving back in with family in St. Charles, Wallace returned with bags of groceries to the former Silver Lake fire station that now houses the day center for people facing homelessness.

The next day, he brought more food along with clothes.

The day after that, he brought other essential items such as toiletries, pillowcases and more food.

Over three consecutive days, Wallace donated more than $700 worth of items to the day shelter.

Once he knew he had a home again, he dug into some money he had set aside and decided to donate back to the center.

"I knew I was going back to my home and I have everything I need there," he said. "Something in my head just told me to give to the Landing."

After his first delivery, a staff member took Wallace downstairs to unload the food.

"The shelves were almost all empty," he said.

A few hundred dollars in savings wouldn't have taken him very far at the time he was homeless, he said.

"I suppose I could have spent it on a hotel," he said. "How long could I stay? A week?"

That money went further at the landing.

"This helped people and might even have been life-changing," he said. "I know it was to me."

Wallace said he wants to continue to help the Landing help people who are unhoused.

Dan Fifield, co-founder of the Landing, said it's not uncommon for former and current clients to give back.

"We've had that happen more often than not," he said. "Even people who are still staying with us, if they get a stimulus check or a temporary job, they give back."

Fifield said that generosity means to him the help the Landing offers overshadows the bad spot a person finds themselves in when not having a place to stay of their own.

"We try to make it so it's not a horrible situation," he said. "We try to focus on what good is going to come through this."

Wallace spent most of July at the Landing. He said that his first week there, he didn't speak to anyone.

"I just kind of isolated myself," he said, adding he has social anxiety issues.

Wallace recalls one client named Michael continued to try to get Wallace to talk. He eventually bonded with a man named Eugene. One one of his trips, he gave Eugene a backpack full of items he knew Eugene could use.

"He held his tears pretty well," Wallace said.

The city council is considering whether to renew a lease at the Silver Lake station and contracts for services at the Landing.

Wallace said his experience opened his eyes to the size of the homeless population in the area.

"It's something I don't ever want to have to go through again," he said. "This is something we need as a community."