For the first time in 25 years, Al Foshee of Napa has a roof over his head without wheels beneath his feet.
Foshee, who just turned 70, has lived in different RVs in and around Napa for years.
For Foshee, living in a recreational vehicle offers independence and freedom.
“I wanted to do my thing in my own time,” he said – to be free to see different places and meet different people on the road.
Today, it looks like Foshee’s RV life may have come to the end of the road.
In early March, Foshee moved into a subsidized studio at Napa’s Rohlffs Manor Senior Apartments. He was assisted by Abode Services, a nonprofit that provides housing support for Napa County's homeless community.
“I’m relieved” to have the apartment, said Foshee. “I like the room. I'm satisfied with what I got.”
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Yet at the same time, he remains apprehensive about his new home and community.
When he lived in his RV, he was friends with other “metal tramps,” as they are known, but he’s mostly a private person.
“I don't want people to know my business,” he said. As a man who worked for years as a security guard, “I never let down my guard.”
Meet ‘Security Al’
Foshee, who goes by "Security Al", said that for him, RV life has a lot of advantages, including minimal living expenses.
“I was dirt-poor (but) I didn't have to pay rent” in an RV, he said. “Now I'm gonna be dirt-poor and have to pay rent and other bills.”
Life in the RV wasn’t always easy. To avoid getting a ticket or towed on public streets, he had to move the vehicle every 72 hours. Neighbors or nearby business owners didn’t always appreciate where he parked. People harassed him or tried to vandalize his RV. He never knew who was going to knock on his door at any time, Foshee said. At times, the RV had mechanical problems.
Considering his age and disability, and with aid eligibility and vouchers, Foshee’s share of the rent at Rohlffs will be $417 per month.
His Social Security income totals about $1,000 monthly.
The finances seem workable, but what if he wasn’t able to pay his rent for some reason, Foshee wondered.
What if he loses his voucher? Would he be kicked out? What about his belongings? He hoped to sell his most recent RV, but when that didn’t pan out, it was towed away, leaving him without transportation.
Foshee has also bristled at some other things that come with the apartment. “They told me all these rules I gotta go by now,” he said.
For example, Rohlffs residents aren’t supposed to do their own maintenance, not even change a shower head — something he said he’s quite capable of doing. Only certain nails can be used to hang items on walls. He has an outdoor patio, but the space is precisely divided between Foshee and a neighbor. And “you can’t pay the rent in cash,” his preferred method, he noted.
Besides security, Foshee also used to work in maintenance with the Napa County Public Works department. In fact, years ago he even had a maintenance job at what is now the Rohlffs campus.
Rohlffs Manor, located at 2400 Fair Drive in central Napa, is an EAH Housing senior community.
EAH Housing focuses on housing those in need, explained Catherine Ahart, assistant regional property supervisor for the nonprofit.
"Our Rohlffs Manor team works hard to provide affordable housing for people like Al Foshee every day,” Ahart said in an emailed statement.
Veronica Lopez, an occupancy coordinator, “worked with Al Foshee and when learning about his housing needs, she did everything she could to support his goal of having a home,” wrote Ahart.
Rent at each of Rohlffs Manor’s 355 units is typically based on income limits.
Rohlffs Manor currently has four vacant units, but all of those have applicants who are going through the approval process, according to Ahart.
At Rohlffs “we currently have a waiting list of over 100 applicants in need of housing, all of whom are seniors," Ahart said. "The mission of every EAH Housing property is the same: to provide affordable, comfortable housing for those who need it most.”
Going from wheels to walls
Foshee said it was his doctor at CommuniCare+OLE who helped convince him to consider permanent housing. He said it would be best.
“My doctor said it was time to get out of the RV because of my age and medical problems,” he said of his maladies, which include arthritis. “Basically, I was getting too old for that (expletive),” he admitted.
Foshee recalled one friend, a man who parked near him on Imperial Way, who died. “When Mel passed, I thought, ‘I don’t want to end up that way,’” he said.
His unit at Rohlffs Manor is located inside a single-story building that some might remember as Redwood Convalescent Hospital. Yes, the studio is small, yet it’s bigger than his RV, Foshee acknowledged. At first it felt like a motel room, but he’s since received some furniture and bedding, some of which came from the Napa nonprofit Expressions of Hope. A friend will help him make it feel more homey, he said.
He’s unpacked some belongings, including a stuffed lion, photos, and an aged Coleman camping coffee pot.
“That's about 50 to 60 years old,” Foshee said of the pot, which he remembered using while camping with his kids. There was no doubt it was coming with him to Rohlffs Manor.
One big change Foshee especially likes is hot water on tap — something that his most recent RV didn’t have.
“Thank God for hot water,” said Foshee. “Now I don't have to worry about how often I can take a bath. I can take one every night.” No more jumping into the Napa River or sponge baths, he said with a laugh.
A safety feature Foshee appreciates in his studio room is an alert “button” on the wall, likely left over from the building's hospital days.
Rohlffs Manor offers amenities and events for residents like Foshee and distributes a printed monthly calendar. At a table in his studio, Foshee carefully marked off the days on the paper calendar, but when asked if he planned on participating in activities such as Tone Up Tuesday, Bingo-cize or a Watercolors Club, he declined – not for him.
However, Foshee would like to volunteer to work in a kitchen at Rohlffs. He’s recognized some former RV folks and others he knows now living at the compound. He thinks a cousin also lives at Rohlffs, but “I haven't bumped into him yet.”
Always security-minded, within his first week as a resident, Foshee had already reoriented himself within the campus and the location of amenities like lending libraries, food box distribution spots and an office.
As he gave a tour to a visitor, Foshee constantly checked that various common doors locked properly and that a large outdoor trash corral was tidy. He’s already on the lookout for people “that maybe don't belong here.” For example, the other day he stopped a man riding his bicycle down a hallway to confirm he was a resident.
Rohlffs Manor might be located in a well-kept area of Napa, but “you still gotta watch your back in this neighborhood, too. Watch your six,” he said.
Abode finds a path for Foshee
Abode provides housing support for the homeless in Napa County. Members of that nonprofit worked for Foshee for an extended period of time, according to Scott Wagner of Abode.
“Our mission with every client is to see them get housed,” he said. Sometimes that takes longer than expected, with starts and stops along the way. At one point, Foshee hoped to move into a unit at Heritage House, a new affordable housing community on Valle Verde Drive in Napa. That move did not pan out, frustrating Foshee.
Some interventions require “a tremendous amount of casework, over long periods of time,” noted Wagner. There’s a lot of trauma associated with being homeless, “a lot of frustration, a lot of anger, a lot of emotion connected with it,” he said.
“Our team's work can be quite challenging at times, but seeing that happiness relief and joy in our clients’ faces when they get the keys to their new home is really what makes it all worthwhile,” said Wagner. “That's the North Star that we're working towards.”
The most recent annual count of homeless residents, taken in 2023, recorded 506 unsheltered people living in Napa County. Of those, an estimated 35 people live in RVs, cars and vans, according to the county.
Abode helped an estimated 174 individuals find permanent housing in 2023, said Wagner.
Goodbye to a home on wheels
Each of Foshee’s RVs had the same name: Freedom Ark.
In mid-March, as he watched his most recent Freedom Ark get towed away from a curb on Imperial Way, “I felt a lump in my throat,” he said.
He’s now without any kind of vehicle, but he still wants to travel. He would like to see the Pacific Crest Trail or the Appalachian Trail.
Foshee said he’s hoping to get a truck or something similar, so he has a way of getting around.
“I think they think they've got me stuck in this place," said Foshee. Not so, he said.
“If it's not gonna work out, if I can't pay the rent, my bag’s packed.”
This story has been modified since the original posting to correct the spelling of Al Foshee's last name.