Tag Archives: Homeless

* My record cannot be expunged. (UPDATED)

November 17, 2016Career goals, Get on your feet, Homelessness, Job search/Job prospects, Justice, News, Politics, PovertyBackgrounds, Crime, Expungement, HomelessWilliam Tell

(Originally posted 10/04/13. See update, below. Reblogged 12/12/24.)

Yesterday I researched expungement in Maryland. My conviction was in mid-October 2010, and I’d understood one could get a misdemeanor expunged after three years, so I was hoping to take care of that now. Turns out there is no expungement of any guilty verdict, except in the case of any of a long list of truly trivial nuisance crimes, e.g. urinating in public or not paying one’s fare on the subway. To clear my record, I must apply for a pardon, for which I become eligible only after five years of being arrest-free after the end of probation (Oct. 2011). The paperwork is extensive. One’s application must include copies of one’s high school and college diplomas, any discharge from bankruptcy, and certified copies of one’s driving record from any state in which one has ever had a license (as in my case, Ohio until 1978).

So for the time being, until October 2016, my one (1) misdemeanor conviction will continue to bar me from employment with many of Maryland’s largest employers.

Previous post: Hiring discrimination and “backgrounds”

Update

At this writing, I have no intention of seeking a pardon. My current job search history shows that, since the “ban the box” legislation took effect, my record poses no obstacle to interviews with, and even job offers from, the employers of interest to me. As noted in the post linked to, however, before that change in the law, certain major employers were rejecting my applications out of hand.

* Must I work for Rent-a-Bum?

September 8, 2016Homelessness, Job search/Job prospects, Motivations, OUR BEST POSTS, SqualorAgenices, Employment, Homeless, Rent-a-Bum, Temp agencies, Temporary, The Homeless BloggerWilliam Tell

(Originally published 08/11/12 at Trojan Horse Productions; reblogged 10/30/13 here.)

If you go into a men’s room and see that someone’s taken his backpack and perhaps suitcase with him into the stall, you can conclude two things: (1) He’s homeless. (2) In his world, squalor is so intense he can’t leave his bags anywhere, or things will be stolen.

All kinds of people steal from the homeless.

They’ll steal your socks. It may only be a pair of socks, but if it’s your only pair of socks, it really hurts.

I stood smoking outside Dunkin’ Donuts and this man came up to talk. He was looking pretty rough. Walked on crutches, and one bare foot. He told me he’d spent the night outside, and while he slept, someone stole one shoe.

One of the few shreds of dignity left to me is that I don’t have to take my bags with me into the bathroom stall. At Dunkin’ Donuts or Lenny’s or the library, I leave my bags in a certain place and they’re all still there when I return. At the shelter, I stash my bags under the bunk, and no one disturbs them. I do lock the bag that has my phone, my cash and my prescriptions (link).

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I knew I was likely to become homeless months before it actually happened. I had contacts with the City’s Office of Homeless Services and obtained a list of shelters Continue reading * Must I work for Rent-a-Bum? →

* Keep the focus on you

June 25, 2014Get on your feet, Homelessness, Job search/Job prospects, Motivations, OUR BEST POSTSChoosing thoughts, Homeless, Keep the focus on you, The Homeless Blogger, Twelve StepsWilliam Tell

(Originally published 09/15/12 at Trojan Horse Productions. Reblogged 03/28/19.)

Teddy is an old man. He wears a rosary around his neck, and never fails to “testify” in chapel. “I talk to the Father, Son and Holy Ghost every day,” he says. Every time there’s an altar call, he runs right up there to get born-again — again. Five times a week, he’ll do that.

He got barred out a year ago for selling someone oxycontin.

Friday night 09/07/12, he came back. He insists to everyone that he’s never been here before, and said he wants to get into the program.

Aside from those things, he hasn’t changed at all. Still all the same empty religious talk.

Sunday night he said he changed his mind about the program. They require you to sign over all your benefits, and he’s not willing to do that. That tells me you don’t want to get well.

I get bad feelings every time I see him.

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Sitting outside waiting to be let in, Wednesday 08/29/12 Fallon and a couple other guys I don’t like too much got into reminiscing about how this shelter used to be, years ago, before the renovation. This upset me.

Continue reading * Keep the focus on you →

* How I became homeless

April 26, 2014Bible, Homelessness1 Corithians 10:24, Astrology, Defects of character, Entitlement, God's plan, God's will, Homeless, How I became homeless, Monthly, Paul, Philippians 2:4, The Four Spiritual Laws, The Homeless BloggerWilliam Tell

This is the second of three posts about entitlement:
04/19 – “Entitlement(s): Attitude and policy”
Today – “How I became homeless”
05/03 – “When needs are met”

This is a long post. One may want to avail oneself of a navigation resource here.

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I don’t write about easy things.

At this writing, a more immediate question is how I’ve stayed homeless, which has prompted no small amount of anger and depression in recent weeks. The short answer appears to be that I’ve stayed homeless the same way I became homeless.

Continue reading * How I became homeless →

* Pull your pants up.

March 19, 2014Get on your feet, HomelessnessDrawers, Fashion, Hip-Hop, Homeless, Mainstream, Pants, Pull up your pants, Pull your pants up, Saggy pants, Shelter, Social mainstream, The Homeless BloggerWilliam Tell

(Originally posted 05/27/12 at Trojan Horse Productions. Reblogged 04/12/18.)

Sunday, May 27, 2012

I wasn’t going to mention this, but then this happened at the shelter.

This might not have happened at a different shelter.

For about a week, this young boy’s been coming here who keeps one hand on his pants at all times. If he didn’t, they’d fall down completely. Normally his drawers are all showing.

I don’t know how many times they asked him to fix his pants, but tonight they finally told him if he doesn’t fix his pants he can’t come in.

If you wear your pants hanging off your butt to put yourself outside the mainstream, congratulations.

It works.

You’re not welcome in the mainstream.

You may not be welcome at the homeless shelter, either.

talk show host, on air talent, radio talk show, the homeless blogger

* Work

February 12, 2014Get on your feet, Homelessness, OUR BEST POSTS, PovertyBack stabbers, Bootstraps, Carlos Santana, Evil Ways, Gloria Estefan, Haters, Homeless, Names, O'Jays, The Homeless Blogger, Upward mobilityWilliam Tell

(Originally posted 05/18/12 at Trojan Horse Productions. Reblogged 12/28/17.)

To get from Point A to Point B, you must move.

At this moment, as I write this, I am living in a pit.

I am homeless.

I face a choice: do I want to get out, or stay here?
Continue reading * Work →

* Taking off for the weekend

January 15, 2014HomelessnessHomeless, On air talent, Radio talk show, Talk radio, Talk show host, The Homeless BloggerWilliam Tell

The mission principally serves two groups.

First (in too many ways) are the “clients,” 450 men enrolled in the 12-month residential drug-and-alcohol treatment program; for which reason they are commonly called “programmers.” Each of them has a permanently assigned bunk and some form of closet space, and can use the mission as a mailing address.

I need to keep in mind that, but for the program, most of them would be homeless.

Second (in too many ways) are the “guests,” no more than 60 homeless men on any day, who are provided accommodations overnight; for which reason we are commonly called “overnighters.” We must vacate the premises no later than 6:00 a.m. daily, cannot leave anything behind, and cannot return until 3:00 p.m. We cannot use the mission as a mailing address.

Note the distinction between “clients” and “guests.”

At the end of the work day one day last week, I walked toward the parking lot carrying my two heavy bags. Programmer W____ P__ came toward me, walking in the opposite direction, and said, “Bill, you look like you’re taking off for the weekend!”

I said to myself, even programmers don’t get it.

He can take off for the weekend; I can’t. I have nowhere to go and nowhere to come back to.

The way he saw me is the way I look all the time.

(Originally posted 05/10/12 at Trojan Horse Productions. Reposted 10/05/17.)

talk show host, on air talent, radio talk show, talk radio, the homeless blogger

* Jesus: born homeless

December 25, 2013HomelessnessChristmas, Homeless, Incarnation, Incarnational theology, Jesus, The Homeless Blogger, TheologyWilliam Tell

At Christmas, Christians celebrate the event in which they say God became a human being.

Without this event, according to traditional Christianity, there would be no salvation, and no hope for you and me.

What is called “incarnational theology” tells us that Jesus’ power to save and competence to save both derive from the incarnation — God’s having become a human being.

By virtue of the incarnation, God obtained first-hand experience of everything we human beings have to deal with — all the trials and tribulations we go through from day to day. In Jesus, God came face to face with physical suffering, pain, bitter cold and burning heat; hunger, anger, lust and love. The Bible does not tell us all the details of Jesus’ life, but I am convinced he went through it all. There is no circumstance you can come into, that he hasn’t faced. Thus he can be present to you, no matter what your circumstances.

In the spiritual (emotional) world also, there is nowhere Jesus hasn’t been. He can be present to you no matter where you “go” emotionally.

God is with you and for you at all times.

Believe it.

(Reblogged 12/25/17.)

* Aromatherapy, Millet and Celebrities

December 23, 2013Clippings, Homelessness, Local mediaAromatherapy, Bach flower remedies, Bread, Celebrities, Coconut, Export cropping, Gluten, Homeless, Millet, Quinoa, Sprue, The Homeless BloggerWilliam Tell

In the past, I’ve seen many print ads that use the word “aromatherapy.” They seemed to me only to be selling fragrances, and I didn’t see the point of using that word.

Light endorses the Bach Flower Remedies. I’m skeptical.

Continue reading * Aromatherapy, Millet and Celebrities →

o Jacob’s Ladder 12/14/13

December 14, 2013Career goals, Get on your feet, Homelessness, Jacob's Ladder, Job search/Job prospects, Poverty, SqualorHomeless, Prayer, Shame, The Homeless BloggerWilliam Tell

Prayer for myself often takes the form of imagining myself climbing up a ladder out of a pit, the pit being my current circumstances of poverty and homelessness. Getting out at the top represents a return to the normal life of the American mainstream. I didn’t start with a ladder in there, but I decided to add one to symbolize the various structures and tools that others have made available to me — and eliminate the possibility of clawing at loose earth.

Here begins a list of “rungs” on the ladder that I’ve become aware I need to “overcome.” Each one takes effort, exertion, to get over. I will update this list from time to time as I learn of others.

1.	Fear of the unknown. See From my diary: Learning to pray.
2.	Jealousy of others who seem to be prospering more quickly than I am. Details here.
3.	Times of despair. I guess, from time to time, they’ll happen. Details here.
4.	Incidents of utter selfishness. Details here.
5.	Moments of unusual hardship and sacrifice. Details here.
6.	Cut loose the losers. Details here.
7.	Smoking. See posts tagged “Smoking”.
8.	Shame. See “(3) Baby steps.”

on air talent, talk show host, talk radio, the homeless blogger