IT’S long after midnight on a Saturday and while most people are safe and warm in bed, a man curls up on the sidewalk outside a boutique on Front Street, clutching his hands tightly against his chest in an attempt to stay warm.As late-night partygoers pretend to ignore him, there is one man who thinks about Bermuda’s homeless all the time, mostly because he almost became one himself.

Robert Simmons spoke to the Mid-Ocean News<$> this week about the work The Salvation Army is doing to provide much-needed shelter.

Employed by the Army 21 years ago as a supervisor at the newly built emergency housing facility on Marsh Lane, Mr. Simmons explains that he never expected to end up there.

Bermuda was a different place when Mr. Simmons dropped out of school at the age of 12 to help his mother make ends meet.

He says it was not unusual for teenagers to work and remembers how the community would rally together on weekends to help those without money build a home.Mr. Simmons’ first job was at a restaurant belonging to Wesley Bascome.“He saw some good in me and hired me to peel potatoes,” he recalls with a smile.

Over the next five decades he worked in grocery stores, as a bus and limousine driver, on the docks and even as a plumbers’ helper when his mother insisted he get a trade.

But since he didn’t have any formal training, Mr. Simmons felt the best way to gain experience was through working.

What did he enjoy the most? He replies that working as a limousine driver for Thomas Keill, a former RAF pilot at Bermuda Aviation Services, was a high point.

He recalls that he enjoyed working with tourists and stayed in this position for almost 13 years.

Despite working long hours, he spent whatever free time he had at the public library immersing in books and also went to the Supreme Court library to teach himself more about Bermuda’s legal system.

“I was an avid reader and this also led to writing,” he explains.

During this time he started writing poetry and hopes to publish this anthology sometime in the near future.Everything came to a screaming halt in the 1980s when Mr. Simmons found himself homeless.Unable to face life on the street, he approached the Salvation Army’s Harbour Light facility on King Street.With a lump in his throat he asked Captain Brad Smith for temporary accommodation until he could find something: “And he told me he could only let me stay for two weeks.”Two weeks turned into two years and Mr. Simmons helped wherever he could by joining fellow residents in washing floors, dishes and keeping the facility spotless.

“On one occasion Captain Smith called me into the office and I thought he was going to tell me I had to leave. Instead he offered me work,” he recalls with a chuckle.

In December 1982 the emergency housing facility was officially opened on Marsh Lane. Over the next four years additional prefabricated dormitory-style accommodation was added.

The Salvation Army needed an additional supervisor to a second newly-built unit for men, and Mr. Simmons accepted, joining the facility in March 1986.

In exchange he was given free room and board: “I supervised booth number two, which held 18 beds and when Envoy Oliver and Mrs. Lydia Furbert retired, I took over booth number one which housed an additional 16 beds,” he explains.

Over the years he has seen people come and go, many landing back on their feet without any problems, while others have lived at the facility for more than 16 years.Today the emergency housing facility is home to 35 men and 12 women and Mr. Simmons’ duties include making sure residents vacate the property by 8 a.m. and maintain basic levels of both cleanliness and good order. From time to time he also conducts devotions in the facility’s tiny chapel and interacts with Westgate Correctional Facility and the Mid-Atlantic Wellness Institute to accommodate discharged inmates and patients.

He says people tend to wait until they are in dire straits before asking for help and with the facility almost at capacity, it’s vital a new, larger facility is built - especially since there is an increase in the number of people needing emergency housing.

Echoing the Army’s Divisional Commander Doug Lewis, Mr. Simmons would also like to see more opportunities for training and job placement for those who live at the facility.

He says the public can play an important part in helping residents get back on their feet, not just through donations, but by offering work opportunities.

This can include offering odd jobs, tree felling, gardening services, painting and roof white washing, while the Army has a good working relationship with local supermarkets for odd jobs.

His dedication to others has not gone unnoticed and recently Bermudians Against Narcotics (BAN) presented him with an Unsung Hero Award.

With a broad smile he admits it came as a complete surprise and proudly displays the plaque he was presented for his work at the shelter and in the community.

He explains that he has always had a need to help others, starting with his mother, Olive Marie Simmons.

He describes her as dedicated mother and a great disciplinarian, but adds with regret that his father did not play a big part in his life so he turned to teachers like Bourbon Cann and Edward (Micey) Smith for direction and guidance.

When asked if they were disappointed that he dropped out of school, he replies: “They saw me as someone who wasn’t irresponsible and knew I was ambitious and would make a success of myself no matter what.”