- [Interviewer] John.
- Yes.
- [Interviewer] We're here in Austin.
- Uh-huh.
- [Interviewer] You're sleepin' out here on the streets.
- Yes.
- [Interviewer] Tell me about it.
- It's a little here and a little there,
from day to day, it's move around here.
Do this, do that.
- [Interviewer] That's no way for anybody to live.
- No consistency, anyway.
- [Interviewer] Everyday is different?
- Yeah, I do it differently.
I'm a little different than the other cats out here.
- [Interviewer] So how do you do it different?
- I stay out of the commerce people walkin' by.
I don't normally approach them.
Every now and then they'll give me money, too,
but that's not my game.
- [Interviewer] When I was homeless, I did the same thing.
I kind of stayed to myself.
I didn't want to
be out here forever
and I thought hangin' out with everybody
I might end up here forever.
- Yeah.
- [Interviewer] Where'd you sleep last night?
- By the Trinity Center.
- [Interviewer] Yeah.
- Yeah.
- [Interviewer] Well it's hot now, but weather's gonna rain.
What do you do when it rains?
- Find a location with a shelter (laughs).
- [Interviewer] So now you said you've been out here
since 2016.
- Yes.
- [Interviewer] Three years.
- Mostly four years.
- [Interviewer] Almost four years.
- Yeah.
- [Interviewer] Oh my gosh.
Now how'd you end up here?
- I got out of prison.
I've done more time in prison than I've done on the streets.
- [Interviewer] And there's no support for people
when you get out.
- Right.
- [Interviewer] Hard to find a job.
- Right.
- [Interviewer] Nobody wants to hire you.
- Right.
- [Interviewer] So you end up out here.
- Yeah.
Move around. I've got some good case managers right now
from Trinity Center and then a medical team
is gettin' together on me too.
- [Interviewer] You said you're on a housing list.
- Yes.
- [Interviewer] Good.
- They talkin' to some kind of...
Glen Terrace, something like that.
It's one of the Foundation Communities.
I don't know if I'm fixin' to go look at 'em or not.
Or the line that I'm on.
I'm waitin' my time.
- [Interviewer] But you'll be off the streets?
- Yeah.
- [Interviewer] And you have some health issues?
- I do.
- [Interviewer] So they'll hopefully get better?
- Yeah.
Yeah.
- [Interviewer] What would you want people to know
about homelessness?
House people.
What you want the public to know about homelessness
that they don't know?
- Their format of choosing and electing people
for the housing that they get is probably obsolete
and needs to be redone.
- [Interviewer] In what way?
- 'Cause the person can be on a housing list for years
and not be housed.
And I think that's terribly crazy.
- [Interviewer] So there's not enough housing?
- There has to be.
- [Interviewer] Well, people need to advocate
for more affordable housing.
- Yeah.
- [Interviewer] We need everybody to work together
to get all of you off the streets.
- Yeah.
But I still think that the process they use
to put a person in a house as opposed to somebody else
is not the best way to go about it.
- [Interviewer] I agree.
- I think they need different formats for different people.
- [Interviewer] I agree.
When that all started when they started prioritizing people.
- Yeah.
Yeah.
- [Interviewer] Homelessness was different.
Housing was different.
- Right.
- [Interviewer] And now, who knows?
I mean...
Homelessness is getting worse everywhere.
Here in Austin,
I see it getting worse. - Right.
- [Interviewer] Everywhere I travel.
- Right.
- [Interviewer] It's time for something new.
- Right.
And a better way.
- [Interviewer] Yeah.
- Right now, case managers that I got workin',
I got a public defender case manager,
I got a case manager, Emily, over at Trinity Center.
That's my home base.
Then I have a case manager with the traveling medical team.
I think Gary's his name.
They're workin' together for other issues.
- [Interviewer] Right.
And they have to speak, I guess, for whatever.
- [Interviewer] Right.
- Uh-huh.
- [Interviewer] But you're getting...
You said that Trinity Place is really good.
- Yes and actually I think they need a medal.
I think they really need to look at how they go
about tryin' to help 'cause they have
an established case manager that's there now.
- [Interviewer] Yeah.
- And they take interns from UT to come in there
and work with us, the homeless.
- [Interviewer] And that's good or bad?
- It's good. - [Interviewer] Yeah, yeah.
It's good because it gives you
a voice where you don't have a voice.
- [Interviewer] Which is what's happenin' right now.
- Right, right.
- [Interviewer] Givin' you a voice.
- Right, they're doin' somethin' for me and I'm sittin' here
on the side of the street (laughs) somewhere.
- [Interviewer] And it's important that...
You're a smart man.
It's important that case managers
and especially the students learn directly
from homeless people.
- Yeah, I think it could be a model set-down
that can be more adaptable for housing purposes.
- [Interviewer] Yeah.
- Because each person that has a mental problem out here,
we're all different and our reasons are different.
So our case managers are different
and they need to look at that.
They need to look at that.
- [Interviewer] What would the solution be?
So obviously you have mental health problems.
- Right.
- [Interviewer] And what would the solution be,
in your mind, for them to help you?
- Find a way of...
- [Interviewer] Prioritize. - Different kind of--
- [Interviewer] I have trouble...
- Mental illnesses and what we're dealing with
and how to live in this...
Some of us don't know how to live in a civilized location.
Some of us don't.
Some of us need to be taught how to make the choices
and interact with life and life with us.
- [Interviewer] Yeah, like for somebody
like you that's-- - Been in...
- got mental challenges and spent a lot of time inside.
- Right.
- [Interviewer] Havin' your own apartment's gonna be...
- Lush.
It'll be like a castle.
(Interviewer laughs)
- I'm gonna make it nice too.
- [Interviewer] Good. - If I get it,
I'd like you to be there and see the place.
- [Interviewer] Well, I'm gonna give you my card.
- All right.
- Just because I spaced on not givin' it to you before.
I usually give it before, and I'm comin' back
around South by Southwest. - All right.
- [Interviewer] And I hope you're a good cook
(John laughs)
because I'm comin' over for dinner.
- Oh yeah?
- [Interviewer] Yeah. - All right.
- [Interviewer] In your castle.
- All right, my castle?
- [Interviewer] In your castle.
- All right.
- [Interviewer] If you had three wishes, what would they be?
- Love others, take care of important things in life,
and don't worry about the bad things
or the things you can't really deal with.
- [Interviewer] Great wishes.
Thank you very much for talkin' to us.
- All right.
Thank you.
(John laughs)
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