Interview with Johnny
There are homeless people in every neighborhood of Chicago. They are of all races and ages. They are from Chicago and from other cities, from other states, and from other countries. Some have been homeless for a few weeks and others homeless their whole lives.
Johnny was born and raised in Chicago. He has nobody left in his immediate family but a few distant cousins. He is in his 40s and is divorced. He has no children. He wants children, wants a good marriage, and has a woman he has a “mad crush on,” he says.
Johnny is one of the homeless guys in Chicago who helps others. These helpers are obvious as they know people all the way down the street, on and off the train. On and off the bus.
I have been talking to Johnny for a couple days to see what he wants to share about his story. He is very aware of homeless issues and knows a lot about homeless needs, programs, services, and help. He can tell you where to get just about anything. He knows about resources like where to get a sack lunch—and on what day. He knows about the food pantries and the clothing collections.
Here is what Johnny has to say about his own situation:
“I have been living outdoors and sleeping on the train for almost three years. I work part-time and luckily have a cousin who lets me shower at her place… but her boyfriend hates me and so it is not reliable. I cannot go there just any time I want to. I have to make sure he’s not going to be home when I go. My cousin gets tired fighting with him….. my visits start a big argument, I guess. So I go once in awhile when he is at work and only when she texts me to let me know. I don’t know what his problem is, exactly, other than I think he is fearing I will steal something at their apartment. I don’t know what the hell it would be, but I guess he thinks they have valuable stuff at their house.”
I ask him what his thoughts are about the city’s services for the homeless. He responds,
“Everything is available, just not all at the same time or the same place. You can go one place and get a sack lunch and some clean socks, plus sign up to talk to a counselor. When you come back to talk to the counselor, you can try to get in to stay in an emergency motel room or shelter. The more often you go, the more things you can sign up for. The counselors keep track of how many homeless ‘drop in’ and what they say they need. This kind of signing up and waiting is how most of the place work. You get more by returning, by looking serious.”
I ask him how you look serious and why they say that. He tells me,
“They say things to you like ‘you need to be more cooperative if you want housing’ and things like ‘I need to be able to justify you need services… you have to show up and get a lot of services on a consistent basis or it looks like you are not serious.”
This treatment of homeless clients like they are children or retarded is very common, Johnny insists. I tell him it sounds like they are making him and other homeless people play a sort of game. Johnny agrees, and explains,
“Yes, they are rude and condescending to us, very often. We network and will tell other homeless guys where to go to avoid counselors like that. Or we figure out tricky things to get what we need, like there might be a gay counselor or a young female who likes young built brothers. You can get more.”
This sounds like an interesting topic to pursue, so I ask Johnny what he means about liking young brothers. He laughs and tells me quietly,
“Some of the counselors have their favorites…you know… guys they like to look at a lot… so sometimes we tell guys going to a certain office to wear something that shows off their, …well, makes them look good.”
So the game seems to be a little more interesting than at first blush. I ask Johnny about women going to these offices to get help. He laughs again,
“Most of the homeless people in this town are brothers. You know--African-American guys. There are only a few women… and the ones who go are pretty rough and they don’t make a lot of friends or tell other people about what they need or what they are doing….”
So I press further, saying, “So if a counselor things you look good, you are in luck and you will get more stuff.”
Johnny nods, “Yes, you have an ‘in’ with them and can get away with a lot too.”
So I act like I am not sure what that means. I press on, “So what kinds of things might you get if you look very good?”
Johnny laughs out loud. “Well, you can get pretty much whatever they have. Guys, girls, they might have something special for you…”
So I act like I don’t get it. I ask, “So they have special stuff? So they can get you more lunches or clothing or what?”
Johnny explains, “Well, they might get you less clothing. A lot less clothing. Ha-ha. Or maybe a little to smoke.”
So I go on acting dense and I ignore the direction he is heading. “Well, when do you find out more about getting housing or other important things you need?”
Johnny answers, “You have to wait awhile. Maybe you are on a list. If they like you, they can ‘fast-track’ you in somewhere. They have their favorites, and if you do whatever, you can move up that list. You might have to do something to get more help… you might have to... There are thousands of places to live it seems like, but the mayor doesn’t give any of them out unless it can be in the news. Then they make a big thing out of it. Like I am on a bunch of lists to get a place to live and then I’ll need furniture and all the shit you need for a place to live. I would need spoons and forks and everything else.”
I ask how long he has to wait, how to know how long it will take. He shrugs,
“A friend of mine who is younger than me kept going and looking good. He knows he has it going on. He has a good face. He got an apartment and they gave him a case worker. He got everything—a bed, a couch, and table and chairs. The case worker went there and took him sheets, towels, pots and pans…. Plus they give him rides to a food pantry and a chick goes and shows him how to cook stuff. He has a drug problem and has been stayin’ outside for about two years since his mom threw him out…”
I tell him that sounds like a great deal and wonder how more people can get in on that. Johnny tells me the trick is to look good and keep going back.
“Everything you need is out there. My goal is to get any place to live. I don’t care if it’s a motel room for a month or a new house hahaha! So I’m keeping my act clean. No crazy shit. No arguments with any brothers when I go to the ‘drop in’ days at that office. I want to get more hours at work and try to save up some money. It’s damn hard to work many hours when I am this f**king tired but I would try. I want to get a real job and get my own place.”
I ask him about work, and he tells me how “it really is.” Johnny insists,
“Most homeless people want to work and want to have a safe place to live. They want to cook, sleep, have kids, and other things everybody should get to do. They don’t want to be around crazy people. The problem is, when you are homeless they always throw you in with crazy people. No matter what their bullshit is, you have to sit with them on the train, deal with their bullshit in an office when you are waiting for help, and hope they don’t kill you on the bus. It is hard to keep your focus on your own shit, on what you yourself need to do to get out of the f**ked-up homeless life. I just want to get away from all the crazy people.”
I ask him about helping others and how he got to know so many homeless people. Johnny responds,
“I really like talking to people and helping them. I just ask them what’s up and they tell me their stories. I could get lots of people for you to talk to and ask them questions. Maybe I can find you some people who aren’t crazy! (He laughs, but then he says seriously) If I ever get my shit together, I would love to be a counselor, but I would help everybody. Not just people who have weed to sell or people I would choose to help! I would help all the people who show up and try to get them a job and an I.D. and a driver’s license and whatever they need. And all people want a place to live. That is the most important thing, a place to live.”
Johnny is just one of the homeless guys in Chicago who helps others. He knows where to go and what to do when you get there. He is a good, as he would say, “non-crazy” guy to know.