A CASTLE OF HIS OWN
Stability and possibility. These are the things Bertram Weston has been looking forward to most after securing his new apartment in the Bronx last month, what he affectionately calls “a castle of my own.” Bertram first became a client of Care For the Homeless in 2023, after a visit to Bellevue Men’s Shelter, where CFH is the healthcare provider. (You can read our 2025 interview with him here.) Along his journey toward stable housing, Bertram joined our Consumer Advisory Board (CAB), where he has been an active and dedicated member. After years of navigating destructive coping mechanisms, homelessness, and the NYC shelter system, Bertram says he now feels safe, loved, and optimistic about the future. We sat down with Bertram to discuss this next chapter of his story, his life in his new home, and what his plans are going forward.
Q: Congratulations on your new place! Catch us up on how you connected to CFH.
A: Life is full of ups and downs. And I know my life has had plenty of downs, but I always look forward to getting back up. I grew up in Brooklyn, in Flatbush. I studied at NYU and even attended Gallaudet University (“the deaf university”) in Washington, D.C., where I learned sign language. I was building a life I was proud of. But everything shifted when my wife cheated on me. Instead of directing my anger outward, I turned it inward. I disappeared for nearly a year, drifting between friends’ homes in Michigan, sometimes sleeping on the street, hiding from my family and myself. I was ashamed, grieving the loss of my marriage and the separation from my daughter, whom I had raised for five years. When it all collapsed, I felt like I had nothing left. Eventually, I came back home to Brooklyn and checked into Bellevue Men’s Shelter and was treated there by doctors from Care For the Homeless (in the health center that CFH runs).
Q: How do you feel your healthcare journey led you to your new home?
A: My healthcare journey led me to this new place because I was determined to be healthy. If I was going to turn my life around, it had to start with my health. So, I started letting go of cigarettes, drinking, getting high, and other habits that were holding me back. I thought about my grandmother, Lizzy Alexandra, who lived to 92, full of joy and strength, and how she quit smoking cold turkey because she decided her life mattered.
And on a personal note, I was assaulted earlier last year. After that happened, I knew I needed to connect with a trauma specialist experienced in supporting others who had endured similar pain. That therapist connected me to the housing support team here at CFH. They helped me secure a HUD voucher (part of a special program offered by the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development), and now I’m waiting on CityFHEPS and Section 8, which will provide even more long-term stability. But stability doesn’t mean standing still. I want to continue working and using the energy I’ve always had.
Q: Now that you have a stable home, can you tell us what you love about it?
A: I love my apartment. It’s a third-floor one-bedroom unit overlooking Yankee Stadium in Highbridge, The Bronx. It has a good-sized living room with a renovated kitchen and brand-new countertops. I love feeling free enough to lay in my own bed, to get up when I want to in the middle of the night, or to take warm baths in a tub, something I have not been able to do for nearly three years. I’m looking forward to decorating it and turning it into my own castle.
Q: Since moving in, what’s changed? What does this new stability mean for you?
A: I have my freedom back. Stability feels safe. It feels like, wow, I made it through the system. I made it through the crashes, the drama, the drugs. And I made it in New York! I have to keep reminding myself that I’m no longer in a shelter anymore. Now I can go grocery shopping, pack my refrigerator, cook for myself. I can play my Yamaha piano, watch the 4 train go by, and sing songs again. I even made up my own song called “I Survived”—not the one by Diana Ross, but a new one that’s personal and special to me.
Q: What are you doing now? What’s next?
A: Recently, I was able to secure an internship through the NYC Department of Aging, which pays me as part of a stipend program. The plan is to work at the internship for now and transition into a full-time position, whether there or elsewhere. They say it’s difficult to stay on full-time, but it’s all about how you show up and how motivated you are—and I’m definitely motivated. So, I don’t think finding employment will be a problem for me. I can easily work two or three jobs if I need to. I have the energy; I was born with the hype.
What I want to do right now is cry and share everything that I have with New York. I want to get a speaker and do a little mini performance for free at Ground Zero, or at Grand Central, or at Times Square, and I want to sing: New York, I love you. Thank you.
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For Bertram, stable housing is a second chance. His story illuminates how even after deep setbacks, healing is possible. With his health prioritized, housing secured, and employment underway, he is focused not just on surviving but thriving. Now, standing in his own home, overlooking Yankee Stadium, Bertram is writing a new chapter rooted in stability and purpose.