Partners adjust to new home after getting assistance from grant

SAN DIEGO (KGTV) – It’s a typical Wednesday morning for Justin Reeb and Dullanni Waterman taking their dogs for a walk.
“Ginger is a Carolina dog or an American dingo,” Waterman said. “Neigi was one of the last of the members of my original pack and he’s a Yorkie and he’s about 10 years.”
But life hasn’t been a walk in the park as they dealt with hard times and family issues.
“That’s how we ended up on the street, and it was definitely a new experience,” Waterman said.
That time experiencing homelessness lasted 10 years, briefly in Downtown San Diego but mostly on the San Diego riverbed.
“I was freaking out every single day, that’s to say, especially with the cops coming through that was new to me,” Reeb said.
“I felt that the longer I was out here on the street, the more I felt like I was losing myself,” Waterman said.
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A part of that process was the
to fund ways out of homeless for those on the river, prior to the clean up. It was partnering with PATH San Diego- a local homeless non-profit – to do the outreach.
“This a big coordinated effort so, that people can have everything that they need prior to something like this so that we can move them and we’re not constantly playing catch up,” Kendal Burdett of PATH San Diego said back in November 2024.
PATH told ABC 10News on Wednesday the grant money it got from the city allowed them to do outreach on the island and areas nearby it, where Waterman and Reeb stayed, to help those people.
The couple going from the river to the PATH Villas El Cerrito in a neighborhood.
“We provide onsite services so that residents can reacclimate back into housing, not cycle back into homelessness,” Jessica Jackson of PATH San Diego said.
They called were able to their apartment home in August. Granted, there were adjustment periods that they’re still getting used to.
“It was just like a relief, I guess you want to call it. Like the chaos is about to end and finally get settled down and have a door that shuts and locks. And I don’t have to worry about everybody else, and I can now be with him,” Reeb said.
Together in a home that’s a long way and time from being on the river.
“There won’t be a day and time that I am not grateful for things just happening the way that they happened and for us getting that chance and opportunity just to get off the street,” Waterman said.