Turtle, 38, grew up on the streets of San Diego with other street kids who ran away from foster care. He became streetwise and developed a talent for fashioning jewelry from copper wire and found objects. He also takes makes sure the older folks on the street are treated respectfully by other homeless and by passersby. During the pandemic lockdown, Turtle said is was like a madness out on the streets; too many drugs and no place to wash your hands or use the bathroom. When people can’t maintain a semblance of proper hygiene, he said, they start to go mad.

Scott has an incredibly positive attitude. He is outspoken in seeking help from caregivers at St. Vincent de Paul where he has been in and out and in again over the years, and at the Transitional Storage Center operated by Think Dignity.
Asked if he was a military veteran, Scott replied “I don’t remember. But I’m going to have them look into that and see.” He then ran through a list of traumatic situations and mental health issues that combine to overwhelm his well-being. “Death in the family, separation of family, um, bipolar, schizophrenia, um, hypertension deficit disorder, um learning disorder, and just a long time of institutionalized, and so it’s just a lot. But, I haven’t given up, my friends haven’t given up on me. People haven’t given up on me, churches haven’t given up on me, and my brains ain’t beat in.” He holds up an I.D. card with a clean-shaven version of his face. “I want to get back to this guy,” he said.

Montana, 32, rode the rails and hitch-hiked his way to San Diego through snow-capped mountains in boxcars and sitting atop piles of rebar, to be near his two sons. He saw his boys nearly every day, taking them to the park to play soccer, the beach — mostly what they could do together that didn’t cost anything. Then he got stung by a bee one day, as he and the boys were on their way to the park. Dizzy, due to his bee allergy, he had the boys lead him back to their house, where he slept it off on the couch. His ex, however, was not pleased, and told him he couldn’t see the kids any more. This was a crushing blow, since the kids were his reason to be in San Diego. He has toyed with the idea of returning to Montana, taking the bus this time, or moving further north, while holding out hope he will get a reprieve and be able to hang out with his sons again.

Richard Garcia, 53, broke his leg 15 months ago stepping through a hole in the street. Because of that he lost his job, couldn’t pay rent on the room he was living in and ended up living in a friend’s car. A construction worker with licenses for truck and forklift driving as well as carpentry skills, he checks online with agencies throughout the week looking for openings. He often has high school students stop and ask him about homelessness, an opportunity for which he is grateful, he said. He tells them he sees young people on the street strung out on drugs who have no future, and that he lost two jobs before he realized he had to quit doing drugs himself if he wanted to amount to anything. Garcia is grateful for the smallest donation people give, whether food or money, he said. He keeps his clothes and body clean and gets his haircut at the college barber so if he gets that call to work he’s ready.

Dex grew up in Queens, New York in a big family. He attended college in Virginia, though it got tough to pay his tuition after his father stole his student loan check. The fight that ensued got Dex noticed by local police. Thus began a long relationship with law enforcement that most recently manifested in his being assaulted while in a Pensacola, Florida jail, allegedly by a policeman. He had to undergo brain surgery and several months of rehab before he could walk and talk again. Now on the streets of San Diego after a job offer to do computer animation fell through, he is looking for work either playing in a band or building websites. Meanwhile he has a good attitude on life, and Karma keeps strangers at a distance. He has spent much of his 35 years on the road, either hitchhiking or hopping trains. After the traumatic head injury, he said he feels like he’s 80. He learned to paint, and thinks he might be able to make a living painting and selling his artwork. He just needs enough money to buy art supplies first.

Marvin, 54, is a glass half-full soul who grew up in a Christian home in a Baltimore neighborhood. His mother was a nurse, his father a forklift driver: “a working class family,” as he described it. When one of his aunts moved to California, he got permission to move out and live with her and his cousins, graduating high school in L.A. Following in his mother’s footsteps he earned a degree as a medical assistant and found work in a nursing home there. Somewhere along the way be god mixed up with substance abuse. He realized he has an addictive personality and it has to be all or nothing. Marvin has been in and out of programs to deal with alcohol, preferring programs that have roots in Christian messaging. He maintains his sunny disposition, despite having his toes amputated last Christmas due to diabetes. He now gets around on the street in a wheelchair. He hopes to work as a bell ringer for the holidays this year so he can earn money before moving to Long Beach and moving in to another rescue mission program.

Jack, 51, grew up in the foster care system in Indiana. Though he went through some 30 homes and institutions, he has great praise for the foster mother that taught him a sense of morality, treating people with respect. He couldn’t say the same for his foster father, however, an evangelical preacher who had a penchant for “other women.” Jack is proud to be working picking up trash, earning some money even though it’s not a glamorous kind of job, rather than just collecting some sort of federal assistance check. He feels the homeless get a bad rap. He’d like to sit down with the mayor and other “head honchos” in San Diego and school them. “There’s important people down here,” he said. Some might have just lost their job or had a family tragedy that drove them into a deep depression. When he gets on his feet, he wants to do outreach to help other homeless individuals get work and housing.