Shirley and Bill Sinclair
Shirley Sinclair, 68 and husband Bill Sinclair, 57, met in Las Vegas where she was hiding out from an abusive relationship in a shelter and he was the security guard. They’ve been married 15 years. They arrived in San Diego’s East Village only three months ago, thinking rents might be cheaper and social security advocates would be more helpful than they are in Nevada. Bill, from Boston, raised in an unfriendly foster home, happily joined the Navy as soon as he was 18, deployed to Iran during the hostage crisis, and throughout the Pacific region. Now he needs a liver transplant and has diabetes. He's lost 100 pounds. The two can't find a home they can afford where they can stay together, so they stay on the street. They're frustrated by San Diego's transit system, and how far it is to the Veteran's Administration.
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Randy
Randy Ferris, 62, joined the USMC at age 17. His military family moved around so much he had trouble focusing in school so he decided to learn about life by living it. Stationed off the coast of Vietnam for most of his years of service, and returned home to a less than warm welcome. He had anger issues and nearly killed someone. After 15 years in prison he chose living in a van in San Diego over returning to Rhode Island. After being pulled over, and having marijuana found in his car, he served a second stint in prison, and learned to curb both his attitude and his smoking. He hasn't driven for 14 years, but would love to be able to get some paperwork squared away with the military so he can get a check and some health care. He currently lives off the $195 from an EBT card, sharing with other veterans in his camp.
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Duck
Don "Duck" Wills, 64, remembers important dates. Like the Christmas Day his mother told him she wished he'd never been born. Or the day when he was 10 that his father committed suicide. He remembers every Friday when his stepfather beat him with the buckle end of a belt until his 13th birthday when he stood up to the man and threatened to kill him. He remembers joining the Air Force and trying to commit suicide. He left Texas on January 1, 2001 and came to San Diego. He has lived on and off the streets here ever since.
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Tom
Tom, 63, has a degree in physics. Life was good, raising a family in small town Michigan, working for a company that installs fire sprinklers, designing their systems. Then his marriage broke up, and the people he worked for discovered he had Jewish ancestry. He moved to St. Louis, and his new employers at a similar business were associates of his old company, so he felt he was being pressured out. He traveled the country in his car, with his dog, doing odd jobs, landing in San Diego to live with his son, a machinist in the US Navy, until the son moved. He feels he's escaped death enough times he keeps looking over his shoulder and never sleeps in the same place two nights in a row. Lately, he feels God is telling him to find a safe home indoors finally.
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Cat
Cat, 63, has a degree in biological chemistry, is a black belt in karate, and spent 13 months in California Youth Authority taking the rap for a murder someone else in her gang committed. She would love to see the government finally do right by veterans and their families, and has a theory on how to retool the local homeless assistance agencies.
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Martha
Martha Gibson, 66, grew up in foster care group homes in East LA before having her first child at 14. She and her husband left the gang life at age 18, heading north. Of her 13 children, seven are still living. She doesn't want to be told what to do, so isn't living with any of them, deciding to tough it out on the streets instead.
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Bruce
Once an x-ray technician working for Scripps La Jolla, Bruce fell into a depression when his kids drifted away from him. He knows this is temporary, but struggles with the system of being on lists for housing and having his cell phones stolen all the time.
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