{"id":454,"date":"2021-12-01T18:11:35","date_gmt":"2021-12-01T18:11:35","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/english.illinoisstate.edu\/euphemism\/17-1\/?page_id=454"},"modified":"2021-12-01T18:14:47","modified_gmt":"2021-12-01T18:14:47","slug":"454-2","status":"publish","type":"page","link":"https:\/\/euphemism.illinoisstate.edu\/17-1\/454-2\/","title":{"rendered":"A Older Homeless First Generation College Student"},"content":{"rendered":"
Jeffrey W. Walsh\u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0\u00a0<\/span><\/h5>\n

I am an older first generation (1G) college student.\u00a0\u00a0This is my first semester\u00a0back in college\u00a0in a long time.\u00a0I haven\u2019t taken classes here and there but I haven\u2019t\u00a0really\u00a0been a full time student in over\u00a030 years.\u00a0I\u00a0am\u00a058 years old and\u00a0this\u00a0my first time in Normal, Illinois.\u00a0I have yet to apply for my AARP card.\u00a0If I apply for my AARP card, I think I get 5% off at\u00a0Applebees, Starbucks\u00a0and IHOP.\u00a0A few things happened since the last time I went\u00a0off\u00a0to college\u00a0in 1985.<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

    \n
  1. <\/li>\n<\/ol>\n

    \u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

    I am homeless.\u00a0Half awake. Half asleep. Half presentable. Half disheveled. I see a drifter. That drifter is me.\u00a0\u00a0I see near-do-well, That near-do-well is me.\u00a0I see a\u00a0beggar,\u00a0That beggar is me. Drifter,\u00a0ne\u2019er-do-well, beggar, busker,\u00a0street artiste,\u00a0bum, castaway, runaway, homeless, crack-addict, nomad, vagabond\u00a0alike ,we are united. Come see the\u00a0never\u00a0ending\u00a0freak show under your local highway underpass or Greyhound station. We\u00a0are the\u00a0zombie nation.\u00a0Like\u00a0an endless episode of\u00a0<\/span>Night of the\u00a0Living\u00a0Dead,\u00a0<\/span><\/i>we are\u00a0a\u00a0nameless\u00a0and\u00a0faceless people that roam the streets like mummies with their white gauze slowly unraveling\u00a0until there is a core of dirt, grime and dust until we collapse\u00a0in a heap next to a\u00a0gunmetal grey garbage dumpster.\u00a0Round us up, put us in tent cities and shuffle us off to the voting booth, Mr. Politician.\u00a0 No I.D.s, no birth certificates, no Driver\u2019s Licenses, No State I.D.s. Get out your particle clipboard and your yellow legal pad, Mr. Census Taker. How do you count us? Do you care? Do you know our names? Do you know my name?<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

    \u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

    Homeless.\u00a0I don\u2019t fit the job description. My\u00a0middle-class\u00a0white ass should be vegging out on the couch\u00a0with the remote,\u00a0watching reruns of\u00a0<\/span>Friends\u00a0<\/span><\/i>or\u00a0<\/span>Seinfeld<\/span><\/i>\u00a0not combing the streets and hoping for the generosity of perfect strangers.\u00a0In a very real sense, I was leading a double life. I did not want friends and family back home in Chicago to know that I fell on \u201chard times\u201d.\u00a0Pride\u00a0goeth\u00a0before a fall.\u00a0When I called home it was \u201c<\/span>Everything is really great Mom<\/span><\/i>.\u00a0<\/span>If you come visit me,<\/span><\/i>\u00a0<\/span>we could go to St. Elmo\u2019s Steakhouse. Best steaks in the Midwest.\u201d<\/span><\/i>\u00a0Or \u201c<\/span>Hi, Joe. Hi Mike. Everything is really great in Indianapolis.\u00a0Maybe we can go to the Indy 500.\u201d<\/span><\/i>\u00a0<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

    \u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

    Homeless Veteran. I don\u2019t fit the job description.\u00a0Believe it or not, I used to model. I used have a TV show. You would never know that now.\u00a0I don\u2019t even own a TV.\u00a0One reason I didn\u2019t tell anyone because I didn\u2019t think anyone would believe me.\u00a0Technically, I am not a homeless veteran, I\u00a0was\u00a0still enlisted in the Indiana National Guard\u00a0when I got thrown out on the streets. And, come to think of it, maybe being homeless isn\u2019t so bad after all.\u00a0I have a new role model and he is currently homeless.\u00a0A Parisian beggar Jean-Marie\u00a0Roughol\u00a0is now\u00a0a bestselling author. His book\u00a0<\/span>Je tape la manche: Une vie dans la rue\u00a0<\/span><\/i>(My Life as a Panhandler: A Life on the Streets has sold 50,000 copies. He still sets up shop outside a Chanel boutique on Avenue Montaigne in Paris.\u00a0 Wow. Maybe there is hope for my book \u201cAn Open Road and a Full Tank of Gas, Part 2\u201d. Maybe I will rename my book \u201cA Homeless Manifesto\u201d.\u00a0<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

    \u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

    Homeless Army Veteran.\u00a0<\/span>I didn\u2019t sign up for this<\/span><\/i>. I am not an officer, I am an enlisted man. I am an enlisted man with a college education.\u00a0Call a\u00a0<\/span>hybrid<\/span><\/i>\u00a0if you like me. Call me a\u00a0<\/span>half-breed<\/span><\/i>\u00a0if you don\u2019t.\u00a0An enlisted man with a college education is white collar man living in a blue collar\u00a0world.\u00a0\u00a0An enlisted man with a college education is the equivalent of a privileged boss\u2019s son\u00a0in a tweed sport coat\u00a0working with the boys on the factory\u00a0production line.\u00a0I guess the good news about my homeless stint\u00a0is that I now I have newly minted \u201cstreet cred\u201d among the working-class\/ enlisted\/ blue-collar set. He\u2019s now one of us.<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

    \u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

    I was working two jobs in Indianapolis….one full-time and one part-time. The full-time job was at Morgan Linen and Uniform company. I was an inside salesman. I got on the phone 8 hours a day and called “prospects”- 5 star restaurants and 5 star hotels who needed tablecloths and napkins in maroon, aquamarine, white…or whatever color. I called garage mechanics and\u00a0Maitre-Ds and any place white-collar or blue-collar who might be in need of uniforms for their staff. I was good at my job. We placed a lot of orders.\u00a0I\u00a0worked hard. I\u00a0never had\u00a0to beg like other homeless people. The staff at Morgan were mainly women. And women have a funny thing called\u00a0<\/span>women\u2019s intuition.\u00a0<\/span><\/i>One day, a woman came up to my desk with a basket of money. About $100 dollars. She said something I will remember the rest of my life-\u00a0<\/span>we don\u2019t know what\u2019s wrong, but we think you might need\u00a0this\u00a0<\/span><\/i>\u00a0Maybe someone at work heard about me using the company van to move my stuff to the storage shed.\u00a0<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/i>Maybe someone at work heard the phone call from my landlord when he tossed me out on the street like a sack of potatoes.<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

    \u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

    I tried to establish a routine in my upended life without success. Availability to the storage sheds were from 7am to 9pm\u00a0everyday. Personnel were in the office from 9 to 5. So I would sneak in there after 5 pm but before 9 pm and lock myself in my storage shed and go to sleep. Home Sweet Home. \u201cStorage Shed Sweet Storage Shed\u201d. This was the main place I slept but I tried others after all a storage shed isn\u2019t a real home. No cable tv or mail delivery. If I ordered a pizza from Dominos\u2026how would they find me?\u00a0\u00a0 I found the local missions and homeless shelters depressing, often VERY depressing. Why? Because I knew my situation would eventually improve and I saw those people in the missions whose situations might\u00a0<\/span>never<\/span><\/i>\u00a0improve or so it seemed to me.\u00a0 I\u2019m a diamond in the rough. Sooner or later, someone is going to look past my disheveled appearance and hire me as an executive at a large Fortune 500 company. Heck, I could\u00a0even\u00a0be on the Board of Directors,\u00a0that\u00a0if they could smell of being in the same\u00a0room.<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

    \u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

    According to the\u202f<\/span>National Coalition for the Homeless<\/span><\/a>, two trends are largely responsible for the rise in homelessness in America over the past 20-25 years: a growing shortage of affordable rental housing and a simultaneous increase in poverty. Persons living in poverty are most at risk of becoming homeless. In the United States, homelessness is an undeniable reality that impacts people of all ages, ethnicities, and life circumstances.<\/span>\u00a0The\u202f<\/span>National Alliance to End Homelessness<\/span><\/a>\u202fstates that there are\u00a0<\/span>564,708<\/span><\/b>\u00a0people experiencing homelessness on any given night in the US. 36,907 (6.38%) are children.<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

    \u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

    The storage shed became my new home. I decided to tough it out.\u00a0I am not sure why my landlord throw me out.\u00a0A Navy vet throwing out an Army vet. I think\u00a0he\u00a0is\u00a0angry that we won the\u00a0annual Army-Navy game this year.\u00a0Thanks. I served my country and now I get served at the local soup kitchen.\u00a0You\u00a0ain\u2019t\u00a0part of the Band of Brothers, my turncoat friend.\u00a0My favorite hangout was 16<\/span>th<\/span>\u00a0and Meridian. There was a White Castle, a laundromat, a library, a Kinko\u2019s copy shop and nightclub near 16<\/span>th<\/span>\u00a0and Meridian.<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

    \u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

    I am homeless.\u00a0I am\u00a0half awake\u00a0with daydream nightmares of zombie nuns rapping kids across the knuckles with wooden rulers. A\u00a0lifesize\u00a0statue of Jesus appears to me with tears flowing down his face into scores of unlit white devotional candles at Jesus\u2019 feet.\u00a0\u00a0I am walking. Where should I go? My new experience as a \u201cdomicile-y challenged\u201d citizen made me a little bit more religious but not by much, I went to the Catholic Charities center in Indianapolis. They told me that because I made “too much money” I don’t qualify for any assistance. I explained “if I make so much money, why am I living in a storage shed?” Unbelievable.\u00a0I never set foot in a Catholic church again.<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

    \u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

    There is a saying that I learned in the Army that there are no “atheists in the foxhole”. Hmmm,\u00a0are there atheists in the storage shed? WWJD? What would Jesus do?\u00a0Jesus walks on water. I just want a proper shower. Right now, my shower routine consists of 1) finding a three star hotel\u00a0three days a week, 2) pretending\u00a0that\u00a0I\u00a0stay there by laying out at the pool and 3) jumping in. I thought might be too obvious if I broke out a bar of soap at the pool so I waited until I went to a hotel bathroom.<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

    \u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

    I remember my college professor\u00a0telling me in my Sociology class\u00a0from 1984 telling me\u00a0that many city kids think of the suburbs like \u201can escape to Disneyland\u201d.\u00a0 Yeah, that\u2019s me,\u00a0a clean-cut suburban kid from a nice home with a manicured lawn, white-picket fence and a dog that looks like it\u2019s out of the cartoon \u201c101 Dalmatians\u2019\u00a0now living in a storage shed. Though I am a\u00a0bonified\u00a0suburbanite, I never forgot what it was like to be really poor.\u00a0<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

    \u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

    A few things happen to all of us during the long road of life. Black or white, rich or poor\u2026no one is immune.\u00a0 I have a B.A. in Psychology. My psychology degree served me will. During my trials and tribulations, I harkened back to the very first thing in my very first psychology class. I learned that \u201c<\/span>its\u00a0not what happens to you in life but how you accept It\u201d\u00a0<\/span><\/i>In 2017, I was on leave from the Peace Corps for 10 days. I heard about a Homeless Vigil in downtown Chicago. Old St. Patrick\u2019s Church. 33 is my number. 33 was the age I was on the streets. The vigil was for 33 homeless people\u2026.I decided to attend. What I didn\u2019t know\u2026was that this was a homeless vigil\u2026<\/span>for 33 people that already passed away.\u00a0<\/span><\/i>Old St. Pats decided to give a proper wake and tribute to 33 homeless victims. Apparently most died without any family or friends because in many cases the Pastor called out a first name\u2026and no last name.\u00a0 I felt helpless and defenseless sitting in the pews of a cavernous cathedral. The ceremony was both heartwarming and made me sick at the same time. I resolved that I would do something. My life at 33 led me serve in the Peace Corps in South Africa from 2016 to 2018. The Homeless Vigil in Chicago led to me decision to serve Homeless Veterans in the AmeriCorps at the Grace Home in Montana and Rural Dynamics in Downtown Great Falls in 2019 and 2020.<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

    \u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

    In 2016, I joined the Peace Corps\u00a0and got to serve in South Africa, the land of social justice champion and freedom fighter Nelson Mandela. Wow.\u00a0I can help poor people and get paid for it! Cool.\u00a0Now you know why if you are walking with me I always give money to all the street people as I pass them. Now you know why I wanted to help poor people with the Peace Corps in Africa\u00a0because I was once a poor person too.\u00a0\u00a0While I was a teacher in\u00a0Maphoitsile, South Africa\u00a0 the Peace Corps, I was able to get 500 desks for my students through the Desmond Tutu Foundation in Cape Town. Boomers can become homeless too\u2026 though technically I am on the cusp of Gen X and Boomer, I guess.\u00a0You could\u00a0also\u00a0call me a “homeless yuppie”.\u00a0though homeless\u00a0yuppie\u00a0would be an oxymoron of sorts.\u00a0Some see my unfortunate event 25\u00a0years ago as something to be ashamed of. I see my unfortunate event\u00a025\u00a0years ago\u00a0as something to wear as a badge of honor.\u00a0As I mentioned above, my housing insecurities have led to bigger and better things. In 2019, I joined the AmeriCorps. I served as a VISTA a Great Falls, Montana helping fellow veterans get on their feet at the Grace Transitional Veterans Home. Many of the veterans at the home\u00a0were part of the 8<\/span>th<\/span>\u00a0Judicial District Veterans Treatment Court. Veteran\u2019s Treatment Court or \u201cVet Court\u201d as it is known to locals, is a 14 month treatment program for financial, legal, social, spiritual and cognitive needs. Every week, vet court participants would have to report to the Vet Court judge. It was fun watching caterpillars turn into butterflies. I went to three of the graduations. These graduations were a big deal in the community- so much so that a senator or a congressman might attend. I have come along way since my homeless days. It sure is nice to be able to give back.\u00a0\u00a0Half-awake and half-asleep\u00a0and now waking up, it was an honor to be a part of the zombie nation.<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

    \u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

      \n
    1. 2021.<\/span><\/li>\n<\/ol>\n

      \u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

      As I mentioned above,\u00a0I am an older first generation college student\u00a0and as I mentioned above I haven\u2019t taken classes here and there but I haven\u2019t been a full time student in over 30 years.\u00a0My brother and I were the first in the family to go to university. He attended University of Iowa.\u00a0Here I\u00a0am enrolled\u00a0here at Illinois State.\u00a0A few things happened along the way.\u00a0I learned at early age that\u00a0<\/span>its\u00a0not what happens to you in life but how you accept it.\u00a0<\/span><\/i>I am happy here at ISU.\u00a0As\u00a0an older Grad School student in the Applied Community and Economics Sequence\u00a0in the Stevenson Center, I plan to\u00a0study the link between military training, job insecurity and housing insecurity as\u00a0my\u00a0thesis or capstone project.\u00a0I am also a Graduate Assistant.\u00a0If I have time, maybe I\u2019ll volunteer at the food pantry\u00a0set up by the Graduate Workers Union.\u00a0Nelson Mandela once said,\u00a0<\/span>\u201cOvercoming poverty is not a gesture of charity. It is an act of justice<\/span><\/b>.\u00a0<\/span>It is the protection of a fundamental human right, the right to dignity and a decent life.<\/span><\/b>\u00a0<\/span>While poverty persists, there is no true freedom.\u201d.\u00a0<\/span><\/b>Amen.\u00a0<\/span>Things are looking up. It is great to be here in Normal, Illinois.<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

      \u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

      \u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

      Jeffrey W. Walsh\u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0\u00a0 I am an older first generation (1G) college student.\u00a0\u00a0This is my first semester\u00a0back in college\u00a0in a long time.\u00a0I haven\u2019t taken classes here and… <\/p>\n

      Read more A Older Homeless First Generation College Student<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":40,"featured_media":0,"parent":0,"menu_order":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","template":"","meta":{"footnotes":""},"class_list":["post-454","page","type-page","status-publish","entry"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/euphemism.illinoisstate.edu\/17-1\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/454","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/euphemism.illinoisstate.edu\/17-1\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/euphemism.illinoisstate.edu\/17-1\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/page"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/euphemism.illinoisstate.edu\/17-1\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/40"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/euphemism.illinoisstate.edu\/17-1\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=454"}],"version-history":[{"count":3,"href":"https:\/\/euphemism.illinoisstate.edu\/17-1\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/454\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":457,"href":"https:\/\/euphemism.illinoisstate.edu\/17-1\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/454\/revisions\/457"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/euphemism.illinoisstate.edu\/17-1\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=454"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}