Rickey Myers, 64, sits shirtless on his bed, laboring to breathe.
A small machine rumbles at his feet, supplying his body with much-needed oxygen. Myers has chronic obstructive pulmonary disease, an ailment that blocks airflow to his lungs.
“I don’t wish this on my worst of enemies,” he said in an interview.
Myers is one of the last patients staying at the Chatt Foundation’s homeless respite center, which serves as a safe landing pad for people recovering from surgery or illness and would otherwise have nowhere else to sleep. After restarting the program as a pilot on Sept. 25, with initial funding from CommonSpirit Health, the center has run out of money and will have to close its doors Sunday.