For Wayne Longknife, the holiday season isn't a time for celebration.
Rather, it is a time of dangerous sidewalks and freezing nights, the same as any other.
"Sorrow is basically a street man's life," he said. "Sorrow and sadness. But still, all I can do is adapt and overcome."
Longknife, who lives on the streets of Albuquerque, said he doesn't get caught up in the Christmas frenzy but instead dreads the coming winter nights.
Michael Watson, another homeless Albuquerque resident, said he doesn't celebrate Christmas except to take advantage of the free holiday meals and other charitable donations.
"Unless there's, like, a function going on around here, I probably won't do nothing," he said.
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Doug Chandler, a representative of the Albuquerque Rescue Mission, said homeless people don't have the opportunity to celebrate Christmas the way others do.
"For most people, it's just another day to them," he said. "They're not going to gather with family around the Christmas tree and open gifts."
But Albuquerque's homeless have easier access to food during the holidays, Chandler said, because this is when most charitable organizations decide to donate.
"I think (homeless people), in a positive way, take advantage of the services that really pick up this time of year," he said. "There's a lot more available to them."
But charity isn't as common outside the holidays, so the Albuquerque Rescue Mission and other nonprofit organizations try to channel the Christmas spirit year-round, Chandler said.
"A lot of service providers do things like Christmas in July, because they try and extend that beyond just the holidays and keep the resources coming and the services available at a more stable level rather than just a peak at the holidays," he said.
Chandler said the Rescue Mission provides food, clothing and shelter to some 300 people per day and also offers a restoration program for the homeless.
"It helps to meet some of their educational needs, spiritual needs, employability needs - things like that," he said.
He said about 30 men and 30 women participate in the program.
Longknife said he appreciates help from places like the Rescue Mission but that he chooses not to sleep in homeless shelters because he finds them more dangerous than street life.
Still, homeless life can be chaotic, Longknife said.
"Living on the street is really hectic.. You don't know when you're going to eat next; you don't know when you're going to sleep," he said. "I just go sleep outside (of the shelter) in the bushes. That's how it's been going lately."
Longknife said he's trying to get a home of his own in Albuquerque.
