SIOUX CITY, Iowa (KTIV) -
It's almost fall, and Myron Howley is outside, on his back porch. Today, his life is much different than it was five months ago.
"Lived in an attic, on a front porch, in the middle of winter, not a comfortable feeling," he said.
In May, Howley moved into Henry Muller Hall, a transitional housing space that helps homeless people get off the streets.
"What it means to me is stability," said Howley.
That stability was made possible by the vision of Henry Muller, a former pastor who spent more than 20 years in homeless ministry. In 2005, the first transitional housing services of Muller Hall were established in a small church basement and could hold up to four members at a time.
"You have to have a stable location and most of these guys don't have the family resources or other resources that can provide stability for them," said Muller.
Part of that comes from living with others who fight the same battles.
"They have related incidents in their life that they can share with each other and help them grow on that," said Willie Delff, board president for Mental Health America of Siouxland.
Muller's son, Merrill, says he's thankful to see his father's vision being carried out. While the living situation is unsupervised, house members receive encouraging visits from coaches and pastors.
"We hope that the guys are here for six to twelve months and then we'll continue to transition more guys in," said Delff.
For now, Howley's goals are simple.
"Within a year, be independent, have my own apartment, be back on my own feet," said Howley.
With the help of the Muller House, Howley hopes to be one of many to get his life back.
Muller Hall is run by Siouxland Mental Health, which renovated an old duplex, formerly used by Goodwill Industries, for the project
Located on Casselman Avenue, Muller Hall provides easy access into town, with a bus stop nearby.
