Jill Bouza holds Jasper, a service dog who helps her cope with epilepsy. Bouza is homeless, but is working to obtain permanent housing. (Journal photo by Christie Bleck)

MARQUETTE — Being homeless, especially when cold weather hits, is a miserable experience.

Now add epilepsy to the mix.

Fortunately for Jill Bouza, she has a constant companion in her seizure dog, a 7-year-old rat terrier named Jasper. She also has Room at the Inn and its Warming Center.

Room at the Inn offers nighttime shelter, rotating between various places in the area. The Warming Center, located at 447 W. Washington St., provides a warm spot for shelter guests to gather before heading out for the day.

Bouza talked about her experiences as a homeless person with a service animal Wednesday at the Warming Center.

She came to the area from downstate Boyne City, where her landlords threw her out because of her disability in October 2017.

No reason was given to her and the others who were displaced.

“They just threw you out,” Bouza said. “I’ve been homeless ever since.”

She visited her sister, and then a church in nearby East Jordan helped her find a place to sleep for a few weeks. She revisited her sister, but decided to “look for other things.”

Those “other things” led to Marquette.

“I came up this way and decided to start a different life,” Bouza said.

With the help of a local friend, she’s looking at getting a new home either at Grandview Marquette or Whetstone Village Apartments.

In the meantime, Room at the Inn and the Warming Center are her home.

And Jasper’s home.

“He alerts me when I have a seizure,” Bouza said. “He’ll let me know if anything goes on. He already senses it when it comes to whether I’ll be able to sit down or whatever before it happens.

“But the thing is that he’s a very intelligent dog and he does the job just right.”

The Epilepsy Foundation defines a seizure dog as one that’s been trained or has learned to respond to a seizure in someone with that medical condition. These types of service dogs can be trained to perform a variety of tasks, including barking to alert caregivers when a seizure occurs or moving in a way to protect the person having a seizure.

According to the Foundation, the law protects people’s right to use service animals in public places.

Although Jasper helps Bouza deal with her epilepsy, his companionship means the world to her.

“I love Jasper because he’s been there for me since the beginning,” she said.

She found the dog on the internet and immediately found him appealing.

“I couldn’t say no because he was just that cute when I saw him,” Bouza said.

Wherever Bouza is, Jasper is fine being with her.

At the Warming Center, he calmly stayed in her arms with absolutely no barking or aggression toward other people.

Bouza wishes everyone knew of Jasper’s good demeanor — and that they’d be as non-judgmental as he is.

“They’re always saying ‘no’ to him out there,” she said. “They need to realize that just because you’re homeless, they need to cut you some slack. They need to think that if they were homeless, they need to put themselves in your shoes. They need to try and understand what we’re coming from and be more respectful of others that are homeless.”

She also wants people to give the homeless a chance and refrain from calling the police on them so soon “for stupid crap.”

“Say hello to us or something else instead of giving us all these dirty looks,” Bouza said.

Ryan Redmond, manager of the Warming Center, said it’s been a learning experience having Jasper at the center since some guests weren’t sure about the dog, although a lot of people liked him.

“We’re learning how to work and adjust with the other guests,” Redmond said.

Still, he said it’s been “delightful” having Jasper at the Warming Center.

And undoubtedly more than just delightful for Bouza is that she always a faithful friend nearby in stressful circumstances.

For more information on Room at the Inn, visit roomattheinn.org.

Christie Bleck can be reached at 906-228-2500, ext. 250. Her email address is cbleck@miningjournal .net.