Homeless John and his American Dream
We met John at a State Park campsite in Newport, Oregon. These campsite have a hiker-biker section for usually around 5 dollars per night, for cyclists like us passing through. When we arrived we saw just one other tent, also with a bicycle next to it, but not with the usual bike packing setup. It had around ten plastic bags hanging from it. A while later John came out from the showers and we started to chat. He said that he went into town and got a lot of food but couldn’t eat it alone. He is not a great cook so if we help to cook we can eat with him. We gladly accept as we also don’t want to cycle back to the town in the dark on a narrow bridge. Only later we realize from the yellow discount stickers and the weird collection of food items (3 steaks, 4 different giant cakes, bread rolls, big cans of beans, ready-to-eat salads) that he got them at some sort of food bank.
His modest dream is to live in a house by the sea. He is 58 but already describes this as ‘the last few good years of his life’. He moved from another state, put his stuff in storage and has been living on the campsite for some months to apply for housing. He has not been successful in the past three months. He is a veteran and is living on SSI (Supplemental Security Income). He is not looking for a beach house in Malibu, but his dream is even difficult to realize in a small Oregon town, as rent has increased so much everywhere along the west coast. He has a bad knee but does not want to get surgery as he is afraid the surgery he can afford will only make it worse. He also suffers from C.R.S. (Can’t Remember Sh*t) as he calls it himself.
He is a good-hearted man but it is obvious that he does not make the smartest choices. He brought a lot of food without means to keep it cooled. There are lockers next to his tent with an electric outlet, which we discovered in ten minutes. However, he did not notice them after all this time. Showing him the locker got him excited because he can now bring his TV from storage to his tent! John has a friendly face, but a big scruffy beard and long hair and could use a little clean up to be more eligible to be chosen by a landlord.
His story is just one of numerous examples we passed along the coast. From chatting to homeless at supermarkets. Starters on the labor market that have to live in their parents basement because they can’t afford a house in the city. Guys our age discussing which homeless shelter to visit (apparently at low-barrier ones you can show up high) in trains in Portland. Women with their pants on their knees. Tent camps in Santa Cruz. Smaller towns like Astoria that get inflow from homeless flocking out of the cities. The minimum wage in a lot of places is not even enough to cover rent. It is estimated that over half a million people are homeless in the US and the number is growing.
We did not see John the next day, so we slipped a postcard and a $20 bill in his tent to thank him for the food. It starts to rain a lot over the next weeks and we hope he has been able to realize his dream.