William Tabavorsky is living proof that homelessness can happen to anyone.

A college-educated 30-year-old and former employee of AIG Investments in New York, Tabavorsky has been living at the Coalition of Service and Charity (COSAC) shelter in Hollywood for a few weeks.

"Did I ever picture myself being in this type of situation? Never," says Tabavorsky, who, like many, held the misconception that all homeless people are facing addictions, have a mental disability or are handicapped.

His current situation has convinced him otherwise: "With the economy like this, it’s not that uncommon to be in this situation."

Tabarovsky admits that his "reckless lifestyle" is what led him to the COSAC shelter.

Tabarovsky first ran into problems when he was fired from his position in marketing and investments at AIG and began receiving unemployment checks from the state of New York. Armed with an associate degree and his experience in investments, he moved to Florida with hopes of finding a better means of supporting himself. But after a stroke of "scams and bad luck" during which roommates who stole from him and opportunities constantly fell through, he found himself homeless,
which was hard for him to admit.

"In the beginning, I was really angry at the world. I thought that my family and my friends would be there for me," he says.

Tabarovsky previously struggled with a cocaine addiction, part of a "reckless lifestyle" that he was once able to support, he says. Once he lost the income to pay for his costly supply of drugs, Tabarovsky realized that he was truly addicted. Without his "reckless party-like-a-rock-star" lifestyle, he was able to realize how truly fortunate he is.

"I am lucky that, yes, I am alive. This was a wake-up call for me," Tabarovsky says of his last few weeks at the COSAC shelter. "I look at these people as an example of what I do not want my life to be. I am going to stay here for as long as I can. This place made me clean mentally. When I get out of here, I am not going to drink. I am not going to do drugs. I feel blessed to experience this because I don’t want this to happen again."

He says that COSAC has given him the structure he needed to learn to live a life without the external
pleasures that can sometimes consume us. Tabarovsky explains that he is working on his own 12-step program not for a specific addiction, but as part of his lifestyle. With this structure, Tabarovsky gained what he believes to be two of the best people he’s ever met. His goal is to make sure that they have every necessary opportunity
to succeed.

"If this shelter was not here, I would be sleeping on the beach," he says. "I want to start over. I am thinking about helping people who are in my situation who need tools."