Winfried Cates rode his bike across Front Street in downtown Waterville, his golden retriever Luke prancing along by his side.

It was a warm, sunny afternoon Tuesday with temperatures above freezing — a welcome turn from the prior week’s single digits.

I said hello to Cates, a friendly man with a long gray beard, hazel eyes and a shock of black hair tucked under a gray and blue knit cap.

I asked about Luke, a gorgeous, likewise-friendly canine who, after sniffing my boots, lay down in a nearby snowbank to rest.

“He loves everybody,” said Cates, 52. “He’s a service animal.”

Cates, who refers to himself as “Win,” told me he is homeless. Attached to the front of his bicycle, next to a black hairbrush for Luke, was a cardboard sign that read, “Traveling, Broken, Please Help, God Bless you.”

The sign garners him donations sometimes, which come in handy, he said. I noted how clean, shiny and soft Luke’s thick fur was under his reflective, fluorescent orange jacket.

“We stayed in a hotel room last night and he got food, we got a bath,” Cates said. “I went to Holy Cannoli and they’ve been giving me coffee. I shoveled their walk, and they got me a hotel room. They’re great people.”

But Tuesday night, it would be back to the warming center at the Mid-Maine Homeless Shelter where Cates and Luke have been staying most nights. It’s not ideal, as he doesn’t get much sleep, he said.

“It’s crowded, with people from all walks of life. Everybody’s got issues, and some people get along and some people don’t. But it’s a blessing. I can’t complain.”

Cates seemed happy enough, having been homeless since November when he was evicted from an apartment in Unity. A housing voucher enabled him to stay there for four years but the voucher was taken away, he said. He then couldn’t afford the rent, which was $5 less than the amount of his monthly Social Security disability check.

“I have a disability,” he said. “I have major depressive disorder, (attention deficit hyperactivity disorder) and (post traumatic stress disorder). They say I’m schizoaffective but I’m not. My Dad taught me to talk to God, so I do that, and a shrink tried to put me on schizoaffective medicine, but I say Luke’s the only prescription I need.”

Cates grew up in Vassalboro where his father was a Quaker minister, teacher and farmer, he said. His father died before the COVID-19 pandemic hit, and Cates said he doesn’t get along with his family so he doesn’t stay in touch.

As a teenager, he attended Waterville High School for a year and then enrolled in a private school in New Hampshire, he said. He attended Bunker Hill Community College in Boston where he majored in English and minored in natural sciences. Later, he attended the University of Maine at Augusta. He said he needed just a few more credits to graduate, but transportation and money issues got in the way.

For a time he worked on a farm in Vassalboro while living in an unheated camper, but when the season ended and the cold came, he couldn’t find a place to live.

During the pandemic, he hitchhiked around New England with Luke, he said.

“We slept outside for 16 months before we got the apartment in Unity.”

Actually, he said, Luke prefers living outside as he gets to meet people and can run more freely. I asked where they eat.

“At the warming center, and soup kitchen,” he said. “Wherever we can. Sometimes out of trash cans.”

Cates likes to keep moving, he said, and doesn’t have a permanent goal as much as a wish to have a van to live in.

“Most of the time I’m just following Luke around. He’s pretty much the boss. If he wants to take a break, we take a break.”

When the weather warms up, he said, they’ll be back to staying outdoors at night unless circumstances change.

“I sleep where it feels safe at the time,” he said. “And Luke keeps an eye on me.”

Amy Calder has been a Morning Sentinel reporter 37 years. Her columns appear here Sundays. She is the author of the book, “Comfort is an Old Barn,” a collection of her curated columns, published in 2023 by Islandport Press. She may be reached at [email protected]. For previous Reporting Aside columns, go to centralmaine.com.