. >> reporter: after vodka ruined his career as a restaurant kitchen manager, nick lott found himself sleeping under a bridge, but for the last five years he found a place to rest his head, on the standard issue twin bed in a modest 12x12 concrete room. >> it's clean, comfortable, safe. i would be in a bad, bad position without a place like this. i would be running around panhandling and annoying people and maybe even stealing or something without this. >> reporter: he doesn't drink every day, but when he does -- >> if, you know, you have money in the morning, you go and get drunk, get drunk by the middle of the day, come up here, knock out for a couple hours, depending what's going on, you wake up again, go out and drink again. you're almost afraid to quit drinking, you know, because it's like sometimes it just seems like that's all there is. >> reporter: in addition to a place to call home, nick also gets $89 a month from the state. and the day that money comes, he's up early to use it. a few toiletries, new phone card, his tobacco, and what seems like an eternity, the clock strikes