Abramian, a small man with gray hair, dresses in a baseball cap and plaid shirt--much like the other students in the Northeastern University library.

He lowers his voice when he discusses his life over the past six years. He doesn't want other students to know he's homeless, he says.

Every morning since he lost his home six years ago, he has woken up at 6:30 a.m. The Shadduck Men's Shelter in Jamaica Plain requires its guests to pack up and leave by 7:30 a.m.

And every day, he has returned to the shelter between 4:30 and 5:30 p.m. to check in for the night. Though recently his social worker has allowed Abramian to come in a bit late because he has a steady job, the shelter's rules are strict.

"No one reserves a place for me," he says. " If I come in late, I lose [my] bed...Everyday I wasn't sure if I'd have a place to sleep."

He says he tries to keep clean in the shelter and takes a half-hour subway trip each way to do laundry.

During the day, Abramian works as a security guard at Northeastern University--doing the same job he performed at Harvard, but without union recognition and for considerably lower wages. At Harvard, he earned $13 an hour and received Blue Cross/Blue Shield medical insurance. Now, he earns $8 an hour and gets no benefits.

Abramian's current employer is Security Systems Incorporated (SSI)--the same firm to which Harvard has begun to outsource its security operations. It's an irony Abramian appreciates.