Richard Garcia, 53, broke his leg by stepping through a hole on the street 15 months ago, which forced him to lose his construction job. He was sharing a room with someone but when he couldn’t work, he couldn’t pay rent, so he ended up on the street, living in a friend’s car.

He’s been in San Diego for ten years doing construction, landscaping, doing odd jobs. He has even been a production roadie, building sets and stages for video productions. He has his Class B license, went to trucking school and has a forklift driver certification.

Originally from Los Angeles, he is the oldest of three boys. His father painted cars for a living and his mother was a factory worker in a machine shop packing nails and screws. His mother died in 2008 after a stroke that happened during heart bypass surgery, which broke his heart, he said. His father is still in Los Angeles but he doesn’t talk with him very often.

San Diego High School kids will approach him on the street, doing a class project on homelessness, and ask him questions. He said he’s glad to be able to talk with high school kids, especially because he wants to steer them away from drugs and alcohol at a young age. “I tell them if I stay away from drugs and drinking I’ll be okay and get back to work faster. I haven’t done drugs in 25 years or smoked pot or anything in 11 years.” He does admit to drinking a few beers from time to time, especially when he has more money than he usually gets from “signing” on a street corner.

“A lot of young folk (on the street) they have addictions. They spend their money on drugs, and then they wake up the next day and they’re hung over and cold and hungry and they got nothing,” he said. “It’s hard to quit. I lost two jobs to learn how to quit. But I was 24 when I stopped. I’ve come a long way since then.”

During the holidays people will walk by and hand him food or clothing, he said, which he can always use. Socks, he said, are the main thing people on the street need, especially in the cold and wet weather, but he’s happy with anything.

He goes to the downtown library to check online for work opportunities. Most construction work requires applicants to go into the agency office to apply, however, so he is constantly visiting offices to see if there are any new openings. “These places downtown where you see all the new buildings? Those are all full as far as work crews. They fill them through the construction company before they even break ground. It’s hard to get in. You can’t just walk up to a job site and ask for work any more, even if you have all the licenses and experience like I do.”

When he’s out looking for work he keeps his belongings at the storage bins facility run by Think Dignity and gets breakfast and showers at St. Vincent de Paul’s and the Salvation Army. He has a tarp he uses to sleep under so he can stay dry in the rain. Garcia said he has had a lot of bikes stolen but he’s never been assaulted on the street so he feels lucky.

He admits it can be depressing looking for work and coming up empty handed, sleeping on the street or in a car and having to ask for hand outs. “I gotta stay strong, take care of priorities. This is the land of opportunity. I’m prepared when someone calls, I have the training and licenses. You can’t expect things on a silver platter. I keep my clothes clean and my body clean; I even go to the college barber downtown.”

Garcia said he can make from $17-30 a day signing. He used to collect and recycle cans but it became so competitive with everyone doing the same thing he never made much money. Four years ago you could make $25 per trip with can, he said. Not any more. So he signs.

“All I need is a cell phone and a bus pass. I want a job and there’s work out there.”