One Seattle man’s journey to escape life on the streets

Richard spent 10 years living on the streets of Seattle. The entire time he was chasing drugs, shelter and a place to sleep. One night was different, however. It changed everything.

“I was sleeping on a cardboard box,” Richard told KIRO Radio’s Ron and Don. “I was sticking needles in my arms. I had been a drug addict most of my adult life. I was homeless for about 10 years out on the streets. I was just at a place in my life where I was just tired of being tired. I had no hope in my life. I was sitting there thinking, ‘What is my purpose? Why am I here? Why am I going through this?’”

“I remember I had been up for about five days, I was coming down after being high,” he said. “I was getting ready to go to bed and I said, ‘Ya know what God, I can’t do this anymore. I’m done.’ At that time I was about 45 years old.”

Related: Homelessness is not just the city’s problem — it’s your problem

He tried to rest, with no blanket, on that cardboard box. He was having trouble getting to sleep. About 30 minutes later a van pulled up and a group of people got out. Such vans often pull up next to homeless individuals in Seattle. Some greet them, others avoid them. Richard got in the van and left with them that night. It was the last time he was truly homeless.

That was four years ago. Today, he drives that van — managing four vans total — roaming from Federal Way to Northgate, offering help to people on the street.

Union Gospel Mission in a van

The van that pulled up that night was from Seattle’s Union Gospel Mission. They offered Richard a sandwich, a blanket, and some cocoa.

“Which, by the way, the cocoa is way better now than it was,” Richard quipped.

Of course, he’s biassed as he runs the program now.

“It wasn’t about the sandwiches and the blanket, it was about a group of people who just wanted to check in on me and see what was going on in my life … they were genuinely caring about me and wanting to know how they could help me get off the streets,” he said. “They told me about the recovery program the mission has.”

That’s the program Richard went into. Every night the Union Gospel Mission keeps two beds open for anyone the search and rescue teams encounter — that’s the groups in the vans. Richard took one of the beds that night. He then took advantage of other services available to him. He sobered up over time. Then he became an intern at the mission.

“My internship was helping run search and rescue,” Richard said. “When I graduated from that in 2015, (Union Gospel Mission Director) Jeff Lilley decided I would be a good fit to run search and rescue. It’s been almost two years now that I’ve been an employee. I just love it.”

No homeless judgement

Richard became homeless when he was 35 years old. He had been previously couch surfing before he ran out of options. Today, when Richard goes out he knows that people may not take his help right away. That’s OK. He was that guy once.

“We’re not supposed to judge people,” he said. “When I was homeless, people would walk by me — the way they would look at me and react to me. I said good morning to one lady and she ran across the street from me. She was judging me. And I know the pain that caused me. We don’t want anyone to feel that way, that we are judging them.”

“Everyone has a story,” Richard said. “We don’t know their stories … there’s no reason to judge them. They’re good people stuck in a bad situation.”

He realizes that perspective goes against many other opinions in Seattle about the homeless. Some accuse the Union Gospel Mission of enabling the homeless, for example.

“Is love enabling people?” Richard said. “That’s what we do. We give them necessities to get through the night and stay warm and not be hungry. But we do plant those seeds. It’s not enabling.”

“We go out and plant seeds,” he said. “We offer resources. It takes a while for people out on the street to trust people. They haven’t been able to trust people all their life for one reason or another.”

“Sometimes we come across someone who wants resources right then and there,” he added. “Sometimes it might take a couple months to build up that relationship with them. But until they are ready themselves and hit rock bottom, we just keep loving up on them.”

Follow @https://twitter.com/DyerOxley