Red

Michael Connelly, 62, grew up in Tucson, AZ. and joined the army right out of high school. He was a field medic but realized pretty quickly he couldn’t stand the sight of blood. His original goal had been to work as an operating room technician. At the age of 18, however, the idea of knowing and organizing all those tools when someone’s life was at stake, was a bit daunting. “I was too immature to be in the service at that age,” he said with a touch of regret. “But we learn by our mistakes.”

Red came out to San Diego in 1980, worked off and on at odd jobs, got married in 1988, has four kids, then got divorced in 1998. “After the divorce I ended up out on the streets, and got into the drugs and things. I spent the next 20 years out here doing drugs and ruining my life.” Red is a familiar character on the streets, predominantly cheerful, humble and eager to help. Eventually his friend Candy convinced him to go to the Veterans Village of San Diego rehab program. While he was there, he got in touch with family members he hadn’t been in touch with for 20 years. “Everything since then seems to have been working out. I’m just try to keep working forward in my life and try to do the right thing every day.”

He was one of the initial residents that were admitted into the convention center during the initial COVID lockdown, having been a resident of the tent operated by VVSD. He was there for four months then he was put into a Rapid Rehousing situation for another three months. Since he has no income, however, he doesn’t qualify for anything permanent. From there he was able to move in with his family, also staying with his friend Candy every now and then.

When he turns 62 next year, Red hopes he will at least get an income so then he can qualify for a housing voucher, since the programs require he has some sort of income. He needs roughly $900 each month, he said. Right now he is making $500, an erstwhile allowance from his dad every month — money that Red calls “stay away money,” laughing.

In the convention center there was six feet around each bunk, he said. They had showers and fed you breakfast, lunch and dinner. Doing laundry was free, and there were “all sorts of things to apply for” as well. He’s trying to get back in there, he added. He is grateful for the opportunity to stay with family, but he doesn’t want to be a burden on them. “It’s nice to have help from friends and family but I want to stand on my own two feet and not be a burden.”

He is still working on finding some kind of permanent housing. “I’ve called the HOT team numerous times and they never respond,” he said. He added that he knows people who get no check, no money of any kind, yet they are inside and housed. “I’m a vet and I get nothing. It’s not cool, it’s not right,” he said. Red doesn’t qualify for VASH because he has an “other than honorable discharge. That’s the catch. People that aren’t even in the military get housing. To me that’s like whaaaat?! And then this corona thing — they put people up in nice places, or putting them up in hotels for free and stuff, but I didn’t get offered any of that. I thought that was messed up.” He said he has applied for HUD, but assumes it will be years before he hears from them, if at all.

His advice on the coronavirus for people on the street: “Don’t trip. Either you get it or you don’t. I don’t get sick. I”m 60 years old. I don’t get colds, I don’t get sick. I don’t know what’s up with that but…I don’t have any health problems. The coronavirus thing, I guess it’s like the flu or something. I don’t really know. I guess keep your PPE on, you know? Your mask and things.”

Currently Red works part time as a security guard. It gives him a sense of responsibility, that he is making his own way. He enjoys it, though it can get boring walking around buildings every day, for 12 hours. “I can’t complain; it’s a job. I do the best I can do at whatever I gotta do.”

Fortunately, or unfortunately, Red was good at being homeless. It was hard the first couple years, he said, “but once you get into the swing of things it’s like a job. You know where to go every day to get your food, and I always hustled. I did the recycling bit. I always made my own money and took care of myself.” Though he was robbed two or three times over his 20 years on San Diego’s streets, he is quick to say he never had many problems on the streets. Why most people continue to encounter crime, he said, is where they hang out. “If you’re gonna hang out in the bottoms you’re probably going to get robbed. You don’t want to get robbed, don’t hang out in those areas.”

For the most part, he said, it was easy. “I miss it actually, to tell you the truth. That’s all I could tell my brother, cause he’s never been homeless. To me this is my lifestyle, you know? This is what I know and I’m good at it. Believe it or not, I’m good at being homeless!”

And while many homeless people complain about police harassment, Red has no problem with the police and says he hasn’t talked with any officers in years. “I support the police fully. If you’re doing something wrong you deserve to get arrested. If you don’t do nothing wrong you don’t have to worry about things. I don’t like jay walking cuz I know it’s wrong. People bitch about the police but they’re not trying to improve their life, they’re just hanging out doing whatever the hell they do. I got no complaints about the police.”

He hopes other people on the street catch on to that message; that while it’s a challenge to resist drugs and crime, if you are up to the challenge, the reward is taking steps to changing the trajectory of your life. “I couldn’t do anything else right in my life,” he said, “but now that I’m older I’m trying to show them that it’s something that can be done: to say no.” Life is good if you want it to be, he added, “I’m going to keep doing the right thing for my own well being.”