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Down and out in Harvard Square

By adamg on Thu, 12/06/2007 - 9:35am

He is 57, has a BS from a local college, has a wife and son. And now he sleeps in the entrance to the Harvard Coop. On the Street is a blog by a man who says he became homeless when he lost his job and he kept coming down with serious infections that require hospitalization:

For me the hardest part of being on the streets is trying to pass the time during the day when the shelter is closed. Where I am staying now closes at 8 AM and reopens at 7. On a day like today when the weather is good it isn't a problem but this being winter you never know.

Today for example I killed an hour at Starbucks having a cup of coffee and reading the Globe. Now I am using a public computer at Harvard to check e-mail and post to the blog, and later will go to the Cambridge Library where I can sign up for another hour on the net.

Au Bon Pain in Harvard Sq is a favorite gathering spot for people on the streets. The management there is kind to the homeless and does let people stay there to keep warm during the day. ...

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Comments

By Ron Newman on Thu, 12/06/2007 - 2:55pm.

A number of folks in the Davis Square LJ community are skeptical of this guy's claims. One of the community's other moderators has offered to meet him in person to give him a donation and a meal, instead of using PayPal. We'll see if the meeting actually happens.

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By adamg on Thu, 12/06/2007 - 3:11pm.

Read all about it here.

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By Jon Garfunkel on Thu, 12/06/2007 - 10:53pm.

Adam-- thanks for posting this along. I read along in the comments and see that "plumtreeblossom" will be meeting him tomorrow.

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By Pam Moran on Sat, 12/08/2007 - 12:25am.

plumtreeblossom posted this tonight

community.livejournal.com/davis_square/1069007.html

He was right on time. notabum walked in wearing the baseball cap he said he'd be wearing. I got him some coffee (he'd already had lunch), and we sat down and I listened. He's currently in the shelter system, following a 30-year career that was interrupted by health problems and a whole lot of bad luck. He's doing everything by the books to get out of the shelter system, into permanent housing, and back to work. I learned more about the astonishingly flawed system than I ever knew in my life. He's getting a lot of help from the Harvard Square Homeless Shelter. He's not destitute, derelict, or drunk, just very down on his luck, and very, very tired. He answered all my questions. He has a teenage son, and the only thing he wants right now is to be able to replace the boy's ancient computer with a laptop. He'd like to do it as a Christmas present.

I'm going on record as standing corrected -- this is not a scam, but a real person with one wish. You can't imagine how glad I am that I asked for this meeting, and that he agreed.

I have since sent him $10.

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By independentminded on Sat, 12/08/2007 - 10:45am.

you sound like a very kindhearted lady, Pam. More people have to be made aware that people mostly become homeless because they're down on their luck. On the other hand, it's not always so simple to deal with many of the homeless, because many of them do also have other problems, such as drug addictions, mental illness and alcoholism, which have also contributed to much of the homelessness here in the Bay State and throughout the country, generally.

There's also a segment of homeless people known as the "Invisible" homeless, who have no place of their own to go, so they end up staying with relatives/friends. Because they're not in shelters or out in the streets, the "Invisible" homeless aren't counted.

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By Plumtreeblossom on Sat, 12/08/2007 - 3:19pm.

Hi, I'm Plumtreeblossom, the moderator who went to meet this man in person. He and his situation are very real. He brought papers from the shelter, Medicaid papers, and even his prescriptions to show me. I really and truly believe he's going to fight his way out of this difficult patch of his life. But he doesn't want his current bad luck to impact his boy any more than it has to. That's why, for Christmas, he wants to replace the boy's 7-year-old computer. After meeting him I felt very glad to be able to help with a donation. For anyone else interested in helping out, the full thread is at:

http://community.livejournal.com/davis_square/1069...

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