This morning I went on a mission. I got a call from a friend on Saturday that there was a report of a homeless family living in a small wooded area nearby. He told me that he was going out there today to investigate and see what could be done. He joked that he would make sure his life insurance was paid up for his wife. I quickly volunteered to come along and help.
We met at a nearby convenience store and drove over in his car to the area in question. My friend and I hiked through the woods looking along side paths for areas that would be properly secluded for a family to live. It didn’t take long, and we found a man in his 40’s walking through the woods. He was very good at playing it off, but when we asked if he lived here in the woods, he owned up pretty quickly. He had watched our approach for at least five minutes and he had clearly adapted to his situation.
We bought him a cup of coffee (he wouldn’t let us buy him food) and gave him some cash and discussed his situation in hopes of helping the guy. He had grown up locally and graduated from my high school a decade before me. His story is not unlike many homeless people. He worked for 12 years in a trade where it was easy to get paid in cash, so when layoffs came, he had no unemployment. Around the same time, his girlfriend had a medical issue that confined her to a nearby medical facility. He visits her several times a week and eats meals with her. She doesn’t know where he is living.
He relies on the kindness of a childhood friend who comes out to get him when the weather is too cold (he is there on this frigid night). He keeps abreast of the weather by watching the weather channel with his girlfriend. He has an ample supply of clothing, but his only protection from the weather is a tarp.
He says he is clean and sober, and I had no reason to doubt him. We asked him how we could help him, and all he really wanted was a job. But he has other issues.
He has no ID. He needs a birth certificate from the state that he was born in, but he needs ID to get it. He has requested it twice, but both times the money order has been returned to him, and he is unable to get his money back on them. It may end up requiring a visit to his home state to get a judge to order a birth certificate to be issued. It is a several hour drive to get there. He has no employment history, no bill history and no proof that he even exists. I have to make a few phone calls tomorrow and try to delve into the bureaucracy of some other state to see what accomodations can be made.
Add to this that a homeless man that wants to live in Newark to be near his girlfriend has no shelter options, unlike many women and children in similar situations.
My friend and I gave the guy our numbers and instructions to call us if he needs to. His situation is dire now, but he is one stolen tarp from having no protection from the winter weather. Hopefully we will be able to get a sleeping bag to the guy in the next day or two. I also plan on dropping off a few of the handwarmers that I use when tailgating in December and January.
We may will not make a dent in this issue (it is certain to get worse before it gets better) but I would like to make this guys situation better. If anyone has any resources in Newark for a homeless man or work in the building trades, a little would go a long way with this man.