“After serving time in the federal pen, I was released to the street with no plan of how to survive. I was released to nothing, with nothing. I have been in shelters and halfway houses. I’ve been homeless on the streets of New York with nothing but the clothes on my back. I’ve slept in parks once the shelters became too unbearable, or too similar to the prisons from which I’d come. It became unbearable to be put into an institution when breaking out of the institutionalized thinking was a main cause of my struggle. I found friends and family who allowed me to sleep on their sofa or floor a few nights out of the week. I was introduced to Picture the Homeless by a friend that told me about a place that fights for the homeless. In disbelief, I visited PTH and have been a volunteering member since.
PTH gives a voice to the homeless. But it also gave me a voice to speak up, stand up, and rise to fight for the same people as myself. PTH opened my eyes to the fact that all is equal, no matter your current or past situation. I’m proud to have found something positive to fight for. For too many years I’ve done too many negative things. Finally I’m able to stand up and do good for those that are like myself, that are looked at as beneath those that see themselves as above the homeless man. It may be us today, but it could be you tomorrow.”