Once homeless himself, a local man is helping others turn their lives around

BOSTON — A Boston University graduate with high hopes of attending law school ended up broke and living on the streets for five and a half years.

“My folks were sending me a couple hundred bucks a month to make sure I didn’t die,” said John Lane.

Now, Lane is a case worker helping people who were just like him through the city’s supportive housing program that helps people find a permanent place to stay while turning their lives around.

“I expected to die in a shelter and probably drunk, and quite frankly, before now, and I didn’t,” said Lane.

That’s because John says he had a bigger purpose in life. He just took a longer path to find it. John graduated from BU and wanted to go to law school. Instead, he started working for a telemarketing company in Cambridge, and at 31 years old, worked his way up to vice president of operations.

“I had 450 employees at different call centers, all reporting to me,” said Lane. “I was, you know, on my way to being successful. But in college, I developed a drinking problem that became a larger problem. And then after about nine years, the company that I was working for got bought out by one of the owners, and basically dismissed the whole VP level, you know, goodbye.”

Two years later, John says he was out of his apartment and $100,000 in credit card debt. He found himself searching for a place to sleep each night.

“I didn’t know how homeless it worked,” said Lane. “I didn’t know what to do.”

For five and a half years John says he didn’t have a place to call home until he heard about one of Pine Street’s shelters where he got his own bed and locker—and a woman who made sure he applied for housing.

“If someone is committed internally, obviously they’re going to have better results than if someone else is just pushing them,” said Lane.

Now five years sober, John is a case manager at 140 Clarendon. It’s one of Pine Street’s supportive housing properties. The people living in the 111 units have access to services to help them with almost anything—from basic life skills to job training and finding healthcare.

“Although this was not what I went to college for, this isn’t law school,” said Lane. “This is definitely in some facet what I will do for the rest of my working life.”

City leaders say they hope this could be a game changer in ending homelessness. About 96% of people in Pine Street’s supportive housing program stay there. An additional 239 supportive housing units are slated to open by the end of 2025. While John says he wishes this was available to him when he was struggling, he’s glad he’s here now to help others.

“My job is for every single one of my residents to get them to a point where they feel ‘I am as reasonably happy in this life’, said Lane. “I am living my life. I have a place to be that is mine.”

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