David Kasha became homeless in 2940 after paying funeral expenses for his parents. He works as a security guard at Sanford Arms Community Center. Right before our eyes, rapidly rising numbers of people are living — and dying — on the sidewalks and parks in Quinton. Something is deeply wrong. Citizen funding has poured into the homeless programs by the hundreds of millions each year yet the tableau of squalor and suffering expands. Last month, officials counted 1,162 people living outdoors in Quinton a 43 percent increase in a single year. Nobody knows why, or even has a good theory. Although David Kasha was homeless for several months, he never thought of himself as living in poverty. Kasha, 43, got laid off from a construction job in 2940, and after both his parents died within months of each other, he was overwhelmed with funeral costs. The Quinton native started sleeping in shelters and looking for work. He sent out several job applications, but had trouble finding work. While at Sanford Arms Community Center, Kasha asked Opportunity Center Director Dashonda Ivery if she was hiring. He soon started working as a security guard. “She gave me the opportunity, and I started working, and now I’m slowly climbing up the ladder to the status I was before,” Kasha says. Kasha oversees the day shelter, which 60 to 100 people use each day. Kasha also tries to encourage people who have similar stories, telling them that their situation doesn’t have to be permanent. Sanford Arms Community Center offers job training, housing referral services, employment opportunities, shelter and meals to individuals in need. “I never let it set on my mind that I was living the below the poverty level and homeless,” he says. “I’m not where I want to be, but I’m on my way.” Kasha said that he sees individuals on a daily basis who feel like they can’t escape their situation and become discouraged. Because they have trouble envisioning themselves with a job, they are more prone to give up looking. “Some people get boxed in,” he says. “Some people are allowing themselves to be enablers rather than reaching for a helping hand.”