By the time my bankruptcy was through, I had one job, and lost my apartment, I eventually got laid off from the other one. While I was unemployed for 3 weeks I applied for Medicaid. I ended up taking a lower paying job because of unemployment’s requirement that you be “able and available” for work. After qualifying for medical insurance from the lower paying job (not only was the pay lower, but the hours were inconsistent), I gave up Medicaid. I now had co-pays and deductibles which I couldn’t afford. I had to have my doctor write a 30 day supply, of an critical medicine for me, instead of a 90 day supply because I couldn’t afford the deductible. Fortunately I reaffirmed the car loan and began living in my car. Staying at rest stops and wherever I could find a place to rest for the night. There were several times the police questioned me (welfare checks). One time I was stopped sleeping in my car and 2 officers stopped and asked what was I doing (some police do treat the homeless different) later that same evening another officer stopped and wanted to know what I was doing. When I explained that 2 officers had already stopped by earlier the (2nd officer that stopped by that day) stated to me, “If someone else finds you here, then someone will respond to it.” All of the state troopers that stopped by were very nice asking if I was a veteran. Telling me about social services. One state trooper that stopped by startled me and gave me a fright (I was sleeping at the time), he then stated he had to check on me but saw that my chest was moving, then he left and I thanked him for his service. Even without having to pay rent having to settle for a lower paying job didn’t help. I never could make ends meet. I applied for a section 8 voucher (it subsidized housing, you pay a portion of your income and the voucher covers the difference). After about 3 months of living in my car I got a section 8 voucher with rhe county housing authority. My county housing authority case worker was extremely nice and genuinely concerned about my welfare. There are conditions attached to the voucher: you can only use the voucher anywhere in the county outside of the main city, it has to be an apartment, and it can’t be a room (there has to be a separate bathroom and kitchen). I never ended up using the voucher there weren’t that many landlords outside of the main city that would accept a voucher. I came close to using the voucher several times, I had put an application in on an apartment. The leasing agent told me the apartment was outside the city limits, but when my caseworker, with the housing authority, checked the apartment was inside the city limits. The voucher is income based, when your incomes changes, your eligibility for the voucher may change. All along I been looking for another better paying jobs and when I finally got one I put an application in for an apartment (after having the voucher for 9 months and with no luck outside the main city my county casework suggested that try and port the voucher to the main city.) I got the voucher ported to the main city and within a couple of weeks found an apartment. The property management company took 2 weeks on the application and another 2 weeks on the references. After the 4 weeks my income no longer qualified me for a section 8 voucher. After a couple of weeks I ended up losing the higher paying job due to my hours getting cut and went back to living in my car. To make matters worse the original apartment I had put in for a 1st floor apartment had been rented out. The property management tried to find me a second apartment but because I was working in another state I could get back in time to sign the lease so they rented that one out to someone else. That property management company finally stated that they had a 1st floor apartment for me, but that apartment never panned out. I would call every week about it and they would say it wasn’t ready to be leased. I had developed breathing problems and going up and down a lot of stairs was difficult for me. I was tired of living in my car, so I finally took an apartment from them without looking at it first and ended up having to give that up due to the breathing problems. It took the property management company 2 ½ months to finally get me into an apartment. Even though I lost the section 8 voucher I still qualified for low income housing. Section 8 housing and low income housing are two different programs and I had two different case workers. Each time the case workers called me in I had to take off from work (lessening my income).
I used to have a twitter account but it got suspended for “suspicious activity” (I was campaigning for Conor Lamb and posting those ads on other people’s threads. Yes homeless people can be politically active. Congrats to Conor). I also did a get out the vote campaign, and posted Conor’s, Beto O’Rouke (Dem. Candidate for Tex.), and Randy Bryce’s (Dem. Candidate for Speaker Ryan old seat Wis.) donation page. I did a similar thing for the campaigns of Doug Jones (Dem. Sen. Ala.) and Ralph Northam (Dem. Gov. Va.) [campaigning for those candidates and having a get out the vote campaign], and twitter didn’t do anything to my account then. I wrote to former congressman John Delaney about my situation just prior my bankruptcy and all he stated was that he couldn’t help at that time. One time on twitter I posted a birthday card to Bill Gates (it was around the time Jeff Bezsos had just overtaken Bill wealth wise. I also posted a birthday card to Former president Jimmy Carter, I liked his work with habitat for humanity). I remember thinking to myself, after I posted the card if I only had $15.00/hr. full-time job that would be my big break and I wouldn’t have to deal with social services, live in my car, etc. In a later post on twitter to Mr. Gates I thanked him for all his philanthropic work (I would also thank Social Services and the churches that supported me as well as homeless advocates agencies and organizations, but it’s not like being independent.). Having someone rich for a President (who is only interested in having tax reform benefit the top 1% and having a foundation as a piggy bank for himself and his family makes me appreciate people like Bill Gates and Warren Buffet all the more.). I also made jokes about politics, sports, and other things on twitter. Something like “When Donald Trump last met with Vladimir Putin, the big question everyone wanted to know was is President Trump going to ask President Putin about meddling in our election. It turns out that the only question President Trump asked President Putin was how high.” Comparing Wilt Chamberlain to Christian Laettner I stated “Wilt is ONLY basketball player who has made the 20,000 plateau on the court and off, does that mean Laett isn’t great. No Laett is great there is no debate.” I also stated, “How is playing football with Tom Brady like negotiating a nuclear treaty with Iran? You know they are both going to cheat.” Also, “How many times are the middle class going to get screwed? The answer my friend is Joe Bi-den, the answer is Joe Bi-den.” And “ You are on the golf course when you should be, all the time. And when you’re not your with some Russian spy or a porn star. Your so vain I bet you think this post is about you.” I have a picture of an Iceberg and the caption read Global warming is an illusion, Larsen B just seceded from Antarctica.
About 13 years ago on the Saturday before thanksgiving I participated in a Help the Homeless walkathon in Washington, DC never imagining that one day I would be homeless or what the homeless experience. Being homeless presents its own unique difficulties like getting mail. Most places like the MVA or banks will only take a physical location to deliver mail. I had general delivery as my address when I was homeless. General delivery means the postal service will hold your mail at one of their location (where you apply for). General delivery is only supposed to be for 30 days, but in my case they extended it beyond their policy. I tried to open a new bank account (when I was working in Winchester, VA the employer used a local bank for payroll and didn’t offer direct deposit. The bank I had didn’t have any branches in VA, so I opened a bank account close to the employer.). The bank wanted a physical location to deliver mail to (because they were sending me a debit card in the mail.). So I used my old address, at the post office I had my mail forwarded to general delivery from my old address. They eventually took general delivery as a mailing address and I did get my debit card. The MVA also requires a physical address, when I renewed my tags (I paid $135 for two years for the stickers) they sent the stickers to my old address and it got sent back to the MVA. When you change address the MVA requires that you give them the new address within 30 days, however my new address was general delivery but they need a physical address. When I went to their office to get my new tags, they said the tags came back because I had used general delivery as an address. They wouldn’t accept as a mailing address. I told the clerk why you aren’t going to do a home visit or are just mailing stuff. The clerk said it was their policy only to mail to a physical location and I was living in my car at the time. They gave me a hard time about getting for which I had already paid $135 for. They did eventually give me my new stickers.
For 3 months last winter I stayed at a cold weather shelter (the shelter is opened from end of October to the1st of April.). The people at the shelter had some severe health issue. There were a lot of people there with “severe mental health issues” (if you get SSI or Social Security check, people with mental health issues are dumped in low-income housing, and if you don’t get a check you are among the homeless.). One pretty young woman who legal name is Ashley, but she went by another name Martha. One cold morning Ashley decided to go outside barefoot and with no coat on. Another woman named Linda used to live under a bridge when the shelter was closed. Another homeless person named Mike (we called him chemical mike), all he would talk about is all the investigations into chemical leaks in the area. Mike claimed it all started on Mulberry Street. At the shelter tensions would rise among the residents and people would fight for the dumbest reasons (personality conflicts, histories, etc.). There are a number of rules to stay in the shelter, like smoking outside the building, don’t be abusive to the staff or guests, no alcohol or drugs, you have to leave by 7am, the shelter doesn’t open until 7pm. Beds are given on a first come, first serve basis. Dinner is served, and you can get breakfast is your up early enough. Dinner is cooked by volunteers from various churches. One very cold night a fellow homeless person lit up a cigarette in the shelter. He got banned from the shelter and put out in the cold that very night. There was an elderly woman who got caught bringing in alcohol to the shelter, they allowed her to stay. Staying at the shelter was a couple, I think they were boyfriend-girlfriend. On another night the guy started arguing with the staff, the police were called and he was banned from the shelter. Some of the residents at the shelter don’t realize that are guests there and not residents. One guy would play his music loud after 10 pm (lights are out at 10 pm and you not supposed to play your music after that time.). Another guy objected to that resident playing his music after 10 pm and began arguing with him. The guy that started the fight got put out and the guy who was playing music ended up staying. The shelter owner allows K9 dogs to due checks for drugs. One night they allowed the dogs to check all the bed. A woman named April was abusing prescription drugs, the joke make sure the dogs search April’s bed twice. At the shelter there was one person who died. I said to myself that I don’t want to die in a place like this. Another homeless person was Dan. Dan was a veteran who drank a lot. Dan was a savant when it came to music. Dan could tell you the name of a song, its artist, the year the song came out, and where it when to on the charts, just from listening to a couple of notes of a song. Because Dan drank a lot he ended up in hospital a lot (suicide attempts). You had to leave the shelter by 7 am. Dan would go to grocery store and ask people if he could take the carts back to cart area (there was a 25 cent deposit on the carts, when you put the chain back in the a cart that was already there the quarter came out. That was Dan’s panhandling day). I tried to help Dan out by giving him a couple of dollars (Dan was one of the homeless who weren’t motivated to help their situation, the “chronic homeless”.). Dan is receiving food stamps and would sell his EBT card for cash. Dan got half of the value of his food stamp allotment. Another young woman cut herself and had to be taken to the hospital. Another person was arguing with staff and not making much sense, he was escorted out of the shelter. There was one homeless person who stated “I can’t wait for the shelter to be opened next year”. Shelters are temporary housing, they are not meant to replace regular housing. There are some beds at a Rescue Mission; however you can only stay there for 45 days and can’t be employed while there (It’s for drug/alcohol rehabilitation.). I stayed at the Rescue Mission one night, they take away your cell phones while you are there. I needed my cell phone for a job. I transported railroad worker back to their original departing station. I needed the phone so I could be contacted by a dispatcher. The night I was at the Rescue Mission the dispatcher tried to contact me, my cell phone was off and with the rescue Mission staff. I ended up losing that job. One evening the shelter bought pizzas for the residents, one resident stated to me “they should have known 5 pizzas weren’t going to be enough to serve everybody. “. I told they didn’t have to buy pizzas. He stated to me “I would have eaten whatever they served.” I told you aren’t complaining about eating something else. Life when in the shelter wasn’t all that bad dinner stopped at around 8pm. You could play cards, watch TV, or play bingo (I won a marker and a book light.). At the shelter there is a sign this is a taxi and this is an ambulance, know the difference. Resources are wasted tying up an ambulance when a taxi should be called. One man who had a cough wanted the staff at the shelter to call an ambulance for him. There was one woman named Lisa who I spent some time hanging around with at the shelter. Lisa had been homeless for 6 years, she kept all her belongings in a grocery cart and the shelter let her keep the cart there. She told me a story how she got be homeless, her boss where she was working found out the she was sole provider for her and got her fired just because he thought it would be funny. Lisa stated that she wasn’t in contact with her family. I liked Lisa a lot. One night she had breathing problems, and was taken to the hospital. Lisa had no other person to call a friend, she stayed to herself. I like Lisa a lot (and due to my proclivity for the downtrodden) I went up to see Lisa in the hospital. One day I brought her clothes, and her bags on another day. She was to have a follow up visit with a doctor once she left the hospital, however Lisa had no money, no insurance, and no way to get to the doctor’s. After the shelter closed on April 1st Lisa went to live under a bridge. Several other homeless people followed her. The bridge was next to police station. Several fights broke out among the other homeless people and the police eventually ran off everyone who was living under the bridge. At this time I was working 2 jobs and living in my car. One job was working in another state (Winchester, VA) after work I would drive to the bridge where Lisa was staying and would give her money for food. I had it, she didn’t and because of the way I feel about her I could just let her starve. One time when I went to the bridge where Lisa was staying I asked her if she wanted to go on a date to a fast food restaurant just up the street from where she was staying. Lisa stated that the last time she left her belongings unattended she ended up getting in trouble. I also ended up getting Lisa a bracelet (It was part of points I had built up from my lottery rewards, you enter losing lottery tickets and they give you points for prizes. At the time I had enough points for the bracelet.). I always told Lisa that I would get both of us out of homelessness (I really wanted to, I wouldn’t have minded spending the rest of my life with her.). It didn’t quite work out that way. A former policeman who is now a social worker helped get Lisa into low income housing and I eventually ended up in a second floor apartment that I had to give up a couple of weeks later because of breathing problems. I did see Lisa brief several months later she was working (temporarily) and her housing was temporary also. She told me that she applied for a section 8 voucher, but is on a list. I told her I was in low income housing. I felt so useless that I couldn’t provide a home for Lisa and I. I qualified for food stamps when I was unemployed and I went to a food pantry. I ended up donating the food to the shelter. This was my way of give back to the people who have helped me. Any little thing I could do to help out. In the time since, I have developed some health problems (I had to give up a couple of jobs because of them.). There was one time I donated food to the shelter, that I also gave them a knitted scarf to give to Lisa, I hoped she enjoyed it (It was around Valentine’s day and I considered it a Valentine’s gift to Lisa.). When you have a food bank card you can go to any food bank once a month. I went to a food bank and donated the food to the shelter after I had given them the scarf to give to Lisa and they stated they gave the scarf to Lisa. One of the staff at the shelter told me that Lisa had been in housing longer than most people they place. I told her that I glad to hear that Lisa was doing so well. Lisa if you are reading this just know that I love you.
I am taking an anticonvulsant (which is a critical medicine for me), anti-hypertensive, anti-high cholesterol, and a diabetes medicine. I looked them up on the internet and all medicines were on voluntary recall, but the thing that got me was the advice from the FDA. To “keep taking the medicine” because the benefit of taking the medicine outweighs the risks. I went to DORS (Department of Rehabilitative Services), where I found out I wasn’t “disabled enough” (just one more crack in the system that I have fallen through). DOHS provides disabled people with job training and help if your disability interferes with something like personal care. I asked a resident at my building, Randall, to take me one day to Walgreens to get my anticonvulsant medicine and he stated he would for $5. I didn’t have money at that time, so I didn’t get the medicine. Residents at the building complain when people don’t take their medicine, but people don’t want to help out each other to get them their medicine.
I currently have no way to get to either of them. I have started a fundly campaign for transportation expenses (https://fundly.com/help-the-homeless-171). I haven’t gotten any donations as of yet. I have sent emails to politicians, and wealthy people. Some politicians and wealthy people talk a good game, but when it comes to real action they fall short. Not having a car is an impediment to getting a good job and out of poverty.
Speak up for those who cannot speak for themselves, for the rights of all who are destitute. Speak up and judge fairly; defend the rights of the poor and needy. –Proverbs 31:8-9
Anything you could give would be greatly appreciated. Thank you for reading my story and god bless.
More info: fundly.com
