The Homeless Gazette

The Homeless Gazette
May 2013
Volume 3, Issue 5
Serving the Howard County and Laurel, MD Homeless Communities and Beyond
Easter Pageant Review
Thank You, Jesus By Jerry M.
Every time I get invited to a program at Bethany
Lane Baptist Church it just amazes me. You just had
to be there at the Easter pageant yourself; it is hard
for me to come up with words to describe it.
From start to finish, the performance was so real. I
learned so much that night. It touched me in a lot of
ways. It had me praying
with the preacher after it
was over.
I want to thank God for
putting Phyllis and I in that
church that night. I also
want to give Ms. Nancy,
and everyone that took part
in the most incredible
performance I’ve ever
seen, a big thank you.
But the most important
thing I learned was about the suffering that Jesus
went through for me and my sins. Today, I cannot
thank you, Jesus, enough. ■
Editorial
An Open Door to Work Again
By Joe D.
I’m writing this month about A Hat for Harold, a
great idea. I thank Sherri for starting it: helping
people in need with those things they need. Thanks to
this program I got re-certified as a flagger. I got my
new card, and now I have an open door to work
again.
The donors are private individuals whom I thank
greatly. Hopefully more people will find out about A
Hat for Harold (www.ahatforharold.org). ■
April 6, Pathfinders Rock-A-Thon – Jerry M. and
Sherri spoke to seventeen amazing young girls and
boys at the Spencerville Seventh-day Adventist
Church. Those children, known as Pathfinders, rocked
in rocking chairs all night to raise money for A Hat for
Harold. And rocked they did.
“It’s incredible what you all did. If you ever
do it again, and if I am invited back, I promise
you all I’ll rock with you. It takes a lot for me
to drop a tear, but when I found out what you all did,
believe me, I dropped a few.
Thank you, Pathfinders, from Jerry
and all the homeless people you
seventeen are helping.
May God always be with every one of you.
You kids rock, not only in chairs, but in my heart.”
--Jerry M.
CONTENTS
FIRST PERSON - Butch!
Insert!!
EASTER PAGEANT - Jerry M.!
1
EDITORIAL - Joe D.!
1
ROCK-A-THON - Jerry M.!
1
JOURNEY - Gary, E!
2
FOOD FOR THOUGHT - Mark!
3
REFLECTIONS - Sally!
3
ORIGINAL EXPRESSIONS - Denise, Eric!
3
GARDEN PHOTO - Denise!
4
LETTER TO THE EDITOR!
4!
Photos: Martha Johnson
May 2013
The Homeless Gazette, page 2
Journey
Finding Senior Housing
Third Annual
By Gary
After I left Grassroots I stayed in a hotel in Jessup
for about a year. At Grassroots I’d saved up money so
when I left I had enough to stay in a hotel for almost
a year. I was staying at a hotel because my friend, the
manager, gave me such a good deal I couldn’t turn it
down and he said I could stay there as long as I
wanted to.
I started calling around to senior homes. I called
the Morningside Park Senior Home for two months
and never heard back. One day I was here at the
Center using the computer. I went online for senior
homes and their name popped up, so I called the
same day and asked the lady about applying for a
senior home. She asked if I was 62 or over, and made
an appointment for me.
I went and filled out an application. They had to
run a credit check but she did it without my having
pay the $25. I paid it after I was approved. It took me
two months to get in because I had to go to
Community Action in Columbia for first month’s
rent, then I had to go to Bridges Housing in Columbia
for the deposit.
Phyllis told me about Community Action and
Bridges. Community Action helps out with rent,
electric, and food. They wanted to see about the
benefits I get, like Social Security, and they gave me
rent assistance.
Bridges will help you if you need to get back on
track with rent and electric. They’ll also help with
furniture and health care. They even helped me pay
off two tickets so I could get my driver’s license
back. ■
Joe’s beef…
...is with Virgin Mobile!
Hope for the Homeless
5K Race to benefit the Route 1 Day Center
Saturday, May 4, 9 am
Rockburn Park in Elkridge
West entrance off Montgomery Road
near Rockburn Elementary
Online registration:
www.hopeforhomeless5k.com
Journey
After Winterhaven By E
Winterhaven is good but after it’s over, it still
leaves people with nowhere but the same situation
they were in before. For instance with the Death
Camp, with them opening up the dams, now you’re
trespassing and if they open up the gates again, you’ll
lose everything again. I lost everything. I have to start
all over again.
After the flood I didn’t have any clothes or
anything but Ms. Cheryl from First Baptist Church
helped me a whole lot. She got me clothing, blankets,
pillows, a tent, tarps, tissue paper, flashlights – just
about everything I needed, and she helped me carry
it. That was a blessing. Only thing I’m missing now
is a lantern so I can see at night. She’s like an angel. I
met her a long time ago. She goes to Baltimore to
help the homeless through her church and on her own
out of her own pocket. She’s been doing this for a
long time.
Thing is, after Winterhaven’s closed, when they
put people back into the same situation it’s not really
helping because you have to go back into survival
mode. You are out there against the world – the
environment, the police and everything – again.
If they could help us get permanent housing and
help with finding a job – everybody’s got skills – I
can get out of the situation I’m in. I’m a jack of all
trades – I’m a painter, a forklift operator, a flagger
(but my card’s expired) – but I’m looking for
something other than a tent. Just giving you a tent
doesn’t solve the problem.
You’ve got to live by however you can. I haven’t
worked in three years. Sometimes you catch a little
job, just making it day to day. Thank you, Lord, for
waking me up this morning, for shelter, for food, for
clothing. Then you pretty much let the day take care
of itself. ■
May 2013
The Homeless Gazette, page 3
Reflections
Afterthoughts on the Homeless
Memorial Service By Sally
As one of the original homeless persons that
started this Center, it was nice that a memorial
service for the homeless we’ve lost since the Center
opened was finally done. I was surprised that
fourteen people had passed.
Time’s short. Don’t be a procrastinator. Make a
goal and try to stick to it. Give meaning to your life.
Give yourself something to do other than wonder
what you’re going to do tomorrow and where you’re
going to eat and whether you’re going to have a drink
or not. Try to do something good for somebody else
and reap the rewards. Think about other people other
than yourself. ■
Congrats, Viona!
Class of 2013
Food for Thought
Bartering
By Mark
I did a job twenty years ago for a guy who had a
house in Laurel and he hit me with a new word –
barter. Would I like to do the job in cash in such and
such amount or barter points or chips on the Internet
for services?
Say if my car broke down, I could get my car
worked on, or if my teeth went bad a dentist could
help me with points. Why don’t you clean my
backyard and you could bring your car and I can
paint or repair it – trade services for services instead
of money.
It’s a trade-oriented system so instead of being
homeless you might be able to trade to get what you
need. You can look on the Internet for online barter
sites. ■
Original Expressions
For Tony By Denise
Hope you get well soon
Everybody is missing you at the Day Center
My mom says hello, get yourself together
You were a funny person playing around
at Winterhaven at Pastor Jeremy’s
Hope you come back soon. Original Expressions
Life is a Mess By Eric aka Lil Pistol
You label me crazy like if I got angry and kicked down your door.
Think you better than my homeless family cuz you live in mansions while we sleep on the floor.
I have so much to say about life that after this song, I would write more.
It’s sad to see people without money cuz they might steal from a store.
I believe that it would be a blessing if I seen a rich person giving to the poor.
I’m tired of seeing my homeless family suffer just to get a quarter.
Only way you spoiled people do something nice for someone is you was court ordered.
Just look at my homeboy trying to make it comfortable sleeping in tents with his son and daughter.
WOW, you think we homeless people supposed to get full from just bread and water.
I want the world to hear and see me rap about this Homeless life like a news reporter.
Yeah so what I have money, I need a woman so I could support her.
Men are like lazy cats depending on Women to clean their kitty litter.
You call yourself a man but your woman is being your babysitter.
Many people don’t appreciate what they have, that’s why life is bitter.
Like baseball, I’m a determined survivor that became a hard hitter.
Homeless people are the Greatest and we will never be called a quitter.
May 2013
The Homeless Gazette, page 4
“I teach a Bible study for homeless
guys in downtown Atlanta every
week. Been doing it for years. That's
the guys I'd rather go talk to. I'd
rather take my act outside the
church.” –Jeff Foxworthy, comedian,
interviewed by Christianity Today
http://www.christianitytoday.com/ct/2012/
august-web-only/jeff-foxworthy.html
⊱ Rt. 1 Day Center Garden in April ⊰
Letter to the Editor
Meaning no offense to Carolyn who
wrote "Back on Our Feet" (April 2013),
the one time I was there (Rt. 1 Day
Center), admittedly a bit over a year ago,
I got nothing but irrationality and/or
duplicity on several different levels which
could take up an entire issue. Suffice it
for me to quote a poster I saw many
years ago: Don't get too optimistic. The
light at the end of the tunnel could be an
oncoming train. Kathy
Veteran in crisis?
877-­‐424-­‐3838 for 24/7 assistance
The Homeless Gazette meets Saturdays from 11:30 am to
12:30 pm. We need your news, views, photographs, art,
poems, and suggestions. Drop off in the submissions box at
the Rt.1 Day Center, see Jerry, Joe D., Denise, Mary or Sherri,
or email to [email protected].
Photo: Denise
To subscribe go to: http://rt1daycenter.wikispaces,com/thg
and click “Subscribe Now!”
“I hope I didn’t hurt your feelings
by calling you stupid –
I thought you already knew.”
Steve K.
Published by homeless persons and advocates for the
homeless in Howard County and Laurel, MD.
Printing for May issue provided by Doloff Printing.
Thank you!
To make a contribution to the Homeless Gazette see Mary at
the Rt. 1 Day Center.
Editorial Team: Butch, Denise, E, Eric, Gary, Jerry M., Joe D., Mark, Mary, Sally, Sherri, Steve K.
The Homeless Gazette - Insert, page 1
First Person
Don't Know How To Give Up By Butch
That title holds so much meaning for me. I could
tell this story with a long series of painful situations
which could fill a book. Instead I’d rather fill it with
how I’ve always not given in nor given up.
Most at my age, 50 years old, have experienced
loss, death of loved ones, etc. But it’s how we all deal
with hard things that shows true faith. When I was
told my sister two years my senior wasn’t going to
live to 13 years old due to a mosquito bite (viral
encephalitis), my mom and I claimed to the doctor,
you’re not God, how can you say that? Each time my
sister was given her last
rites – three times – we
responded the same.
I was born in
Wilmington, Delaware
and moved to Columbia
in 1974. My sister had
epilepsy and was one of
six children that Johns
Hopkins developed an
outside pacemaker for the
brain called the cerebellar
stimulator for. My sister
met some influential
people – Joe Biden came
to our house, the original
Ronald McDonald, Will Geer from The Waltons, and
Henry Winkler, who also has epilepsy.
My father died of pancreatic cancer when I was
six. Pretty much I had to raise myself. I taught myself
by seeing what my mom did and how hard my sister
struggled. Me and my sister always had a beautiful
bond. When I lost her in 1999, I lost my heart. She
was 39.
After a 30-year battle, when she was no longer
strong enough to fight and was being kept alive by
tubes and machines, Mom didn’t have the strength to
let her go so I had to be the one who turned the
machines off. My God gave me the strength to
disconnect them to allow her to not suffer anymore.
You may say that’s giving up, but no, that was
trusting God that He knew best.
May 2013
I’m the one who did the hospice for my mom. For
two weeks I watched her deteriorate from lung and
colon cancer to nothing. She kept having a hard time
breathing so I gave her the morphine and the more
she couldn’t breathe she said, give me more, and then
one night, in 2001, she passed.
My mother’s and sister’s graves are side by side
and I vowed to myself, to God and to them that
before I go in the ground, they will have markers.
That’s something that keeps me going and keeps me
strong.
I’ve survived personal situations also. I used to
have a home improvement contractor’s license but
when I was thrown
through the windshield
of a car at 90 mph, I
broke my neck and
crushed my left arm, to
name the worst, and lost
my home. But with every
breath I thank the man
upstairs for not letting
me give up. All these
things not only made me
stronger but made me
love God more because I
know that He had to have
had a purpose for me.
Now 25 years later, after
several operations on my arm, I’m running a
handyman service that is slowly growing thanks to
the volunteers at the Route 1 Day Resource Center.
Their gift of help has been nothing short of awesome.
Because of them and my determination, I now have
an apartment and happy customers. Thank you all for
all you do.
I thank God for this Center because it’s been a key
for so many people and done things for people that
they couldn’t have done by themselves. Every day
that I get another job, I say, thank you, Father,
because He sent me here to get hope, when I didn’t
know hope from a can of paint.
Every time I see one particular volunteer, I always
say thank you because she’s been such a godsend.
She asked, have you ever had business cards? I said,
no. I really couldn’t afford it. She helped me design a
The Homeless Gazette, Insert, page 2
Don’t Know How to Give Up (continued)
card and printed out dozens. Now I’ve got so many
cards out there and people are calling me who’ve had
my card for months.
I can do electrical, drywall, plumbing, painting,
cars. I have a couple clients that have restaurants. The
plumber who came to work at a KFC called and said,
Butch, that
wall looks like
it was always
there. I do
work for
people in
million dollar
houses now.
People say, I
don’t want
anybody else
to
come
because you
know what
you’re doing.
I’ve only
been outside a
couple of
times and it
wasn’t for
very long
because I’ve
always found
work. When I
don’t have
work, I hold a
sign that
r e a d s :
“Handyman –
Need Work.”
Sometimes the
police ask, are
you homeless?
I say, does that matter? I can still work. I’ve got all
my tools. One day I hope to have a truck. I can’t
afford it yet but I will eventually.
I have rheumatoid arthritis in my lower spine and I
hurt but I don’t care because I won’t let it whip me.
I’m tough because I have to be. I have to prove to
May 2013
God that I deserve to be here, to fight every day, to
raise my head off my pillow, brush myself off. If
there’s work, I’m going for it. I get that strength from
God, and my Mom and my sister because they are
still in my heart.
My brother died from leukemia. I have no family
left. I’m the last survivor. To have lost all living
relatives I
know of
except my
t h r e e
children,
my heart is
t r u l y
heavy but
still filled
with love
for all that
have and
will cross
my path.
That I feel
is
the
greatest
gift I can
extend to
all.
So if you
feel your
life is not
worth its
weight,
t h i n k
again. All
life is
worth it –
i t ’s h o w
y
o
u
choose to
live it. No
matter what tragedy, pain or ill feelings, you always
have a choice to neither give up or give in. Keep your
strength firmly grounded and good will always
prevail no matter how much bad is thrown at you.
Thank you for taking time from your day to read this
and all stories of inspiration. ■