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Sisson, Secure in his Future -by Heather Ann White 
Danny Sisson makes his way across the 5-acre Presbyterian Night Shelter campus, proudly performing security checks at three
buildings - the main homeless shelter, the women and children's building and finally, Safe Haven, home to the mentally ill homeless.
Although this is a routine he has performed daily for almost two years, this last stop is a sentimental one.
Safe Haven was Sission's home for five years. Sisson came to the Presbyterian Night Shelter in the early 1990s after leaving his family home in 1988. In 2002, Sisson was referred to Safe Haven, where clients have private rooms and are provided with physical and mental care from the nearby Mental Health and Mental Retardation center of Tarrant County. Sisson was scared when he left home, but the Shelter made his transition easier, he said. "It was a hard decision on my part to leave my home in '88," he said. "I was having family problems, but I made a lot of friends here." Sisson, who started doing odd jobs around the Shelter, quickly earned the trust of PNS staff and began working as the back desk attendant. "I felt like I could do a lot better than doing nothing," he said. "I started doing odd jobs and basically anything they asked me to do. They made me feel like I belonged here - like I was making a difference. I wanted to get the heck out of here and become independent. That should be a goal of everyone's here." Sisson's hard work paid off and eventually led to his current position as Fire Safety Officer. It also led to Sisson moving out of Safe Haven in December 2007 and into his own apartment. He also has resolved his family conflict. And because of his interest in fire safety, the Fort Worth fire department donated all the furniture as well as other necessities in Sisson's apartment. "I feel 10 times better now," Sisson said. "I have pride. I will never forget where I came from and that's one of the reasons why I still work here." Living alone was strange at first, Sisson said. "It was weird - just really weird," he said, smiling. "The silence was overpowering. I was thinking of hiring my neighbors to stage a fight just so I would have something to listen to." Sisson has more to smile about, especially now that he is engaged. He popped the question to long-time girlfriend, Allie, 27, also a former Safe Haven client. They are expected to marry in late 2008. Sisson is grateful for the success in his life and even more so for the Shelter, he said. "The Shelter - my apartment - it has all given me the motivation to go on," he said. "I believe in myself, I believe in the system. You have to respect yourself before you can respect other things. I have a whole new perspective on life and it's a humbling thing." | ||
