Tommy Davis, 55, and his wife Sandra Davis, 52, chose to be homeless in order to live in San Francisco. After someone was shot where they were living on Skid Row in LA, they feared for their safety, so they immediately packed up and slept in Union Station that night -- their first homeless experience together. They moved to Las Vegas for the affordable cost of living but found themselves trapped in a cycle of violent influences. Their hearts were still in California, so they decided to start over in San Francisco. "I have just have that feeling in my heart. I've never had that feeling anywhere I've lived before," Tommy says. While bouncing around to various shelters, they found Downtown Streets Team (DST), a nonprofit that pays people experiencing homelessness in gift cards to food or clothing stores to clean city streets. Some workers ask DST to save their gift card earnings and instead write a check directly to their landlord once they save enough for housing. They have saved $1,800 and hope to become housed by Christmas.

CAPTION: "I can't wait until the day I can turn the key in that lock," Tommy says as he points to neighborhoods in San Francisco, Calif. on June 2, 2019, promising Sandra that one day they will again have a home of their own.

Sandra places her hand on Tommy's as they ride the Bart. "We came out here for a reason, and the reason was to help others," Tommy says. Together, they rely on their faith and believe that it was a part of a higher plan to experience homelessness in order to give hope to the people around them.

Tommy cleans San Francisco streets as part of a team leader for DST. Workers receive $5 an hour through gift cards to clothing and grocery stores. On average, people who go through the program are housed or employed after six months.

Sandra leans back in the DST office elevator. In the beginning of their relationship, Sandra used to ask Tommy, "Why you always hanging out with those vagabonds?" when Tommy would let an occasional person experiencing homelessness stay with them. Sandra says that she used to think that people experiencing homelessness simply did not want to help themselves. Now, she sees that everyone's story is more complicated.

Tommy fills out time sheets for DST team members after his binder was stolen earlier that day while Sandra continues her office work as an afternoon receptionist for DST. They spend as much time with each other as possible since they cannot be together in the homeless shelter.

Lauren Douglas, who is experiencing homelessness and has never met the Davises before, smiles in gratitude after Sandra randomly gave her a pair of boots that were too big for her. "These will help me during my Starbucks interview next week," Lauren says.

Tommy and Sandra share a kiss after lunch at Denny's. They have been married for 15 years and, between the two of them, have six children and 12 grandchildren, but only one of SandraÕs daughters knows that they are experiencing homelessness. They often send happy selfies to the rest to let them know that they are safe.

Window light shines through the Next Door Shelter where Tommy and Sandra stay. For the first time in their marriage, they have not been able to sleep together the last five months because shelters separate people by gender. Every night, Tommy and Sandra slide into their separate beds, watch movies and call each other until they fall asleep.

Sandra rides the escalator up to a viewing deck at the San Francisco International Airport. "To me it don't matter what you go through," she says. "It's just a stumbling block." She has applied for a second job and will have an interview at Target two days later.

Tommy takes photos of airplanes taking off and landing at the San Francisco International Airport. Since the age of 10, he has wanted to be a pilot. "Ya know, I watch them so much that I believe I can fly one," he says. A few minutes later Sandra chimes, "One more plane Tommy and that's enough."

Sandra and Tommy eat free lunch at the DST weekly Tuesday meeting where they welcome new recruits, go over the cleaning schedules, and give weekly awards.

"Hello family," Tommy begins as he speaks at the weekly Tuesday DST meeting. "We're all winners here" he says in encouragement to the audience of team members who are all experiencing homelessness. Many of them have jobs or are in the process of applying for them, and once 10 people each receive housing or jobs, the group celebrates with a pizza party.

Tommy and Sandra proudly hold out the gift cards that they earned from their previous week of working through DST. They will add them to a growing stack to eventually trade in for rent as soon as they are accepted somewhere. The day before, they applied for a place in Oakland at $809 a month, which is high for them, but Tommy says, "I'm ready. I'm starting to have nightmares now."

"We've always been warriors. Me and her together," Tommy says as he leans into Sandra after receiving their weekly payment of gift cards.

Every day Sandra and Tommy listen to the song "I'm Blessed" by Charlie Wilson. "Everywhere I turn there's something there for me, and I can give that to homeless people around me. I have a story," Sandra says, reflecting on the positivity of their situation.