"It can happen in a heartbeat. If you talk to enough homeless people, you'll find stock brokers... drug addicts. It's a life that's haunted me,” said Kathleen Manning. She’s battled drug addiction since she moved to Erie when she was 12-years-old.

"I was exploring the neighborhood found a couple young boys. I asked for a cigarette, and they gave me a joint. My addiction ran rampant from there,” Manning told Erie News Now.

She never thought she wouldn't have a roof over her head all these years later. "It's embarrassing. It's humiliating, but I've come to accept it."

Kathleen isn't alone in her battle to get clean and find housing. At last count in early 2020, nearly 1,000 people in Erie County were considered homeless. The two main causes: mental illness and substance abuse.

"If one door in their life closed, we've got another one they can go through,” said Jason Kisielewski, with Gaudenzia Treatment Centers.

They're aware of the many people in Erie County battling addiction and trying to do it alone. "I decided to get clean six months ago, maybe a little longer, and it's led me to homelessness,” said Manning.

They work to get them in their facilities, regardless of what they can pay. "A lot of times, people will see certain things, as you mention the financial aspect, and think they don't have the resources to enter treatment, and that's not true. We have so many different ways to help,” said Kiselewski.