- Anthony? - Anthony, yeah.
- [Mark] You're homeless
here in Manchester, New Hampshire.
Tell me about it.
- Well, day-to-day, I just try to earn enough money to eat.
A little extra money if I can.
I'm trying to get a room.
I have a plan
to learn how to drive the big trucks.
I'm disabled and homeless.
And I did 10 years in prison
in Ward Nine.
And so when I got out,
I relapsed and I went, I'm an addict,
and I went into recovery.
Since leaving there,
I went into the clinic.
And now I have a hard time getting into a room.
I could do the sober houses,
but I wanted like my own room
because I don't wanna stay there and stuff.
And I wanted to have like a girlfriend over
and stuff like that.
- [Mark] Yeah, I don't,
I lived in a shelter for eight years.
I can't do roommates.
- Shelters or bunk beds, I just,
I didn't wanna go over there.
It's good people and stuff like that.
It's not, I have social anxiety
real bad. - Right, right, right.
- One-on-one, I'm okay.
Crowds, I run the other way.
- [Mark] Yeah, is that 'cause of doing time?
- I don't know. (laughing)
It's just always been.
And it got worse.
So maybe time made it worse.
- [Mark] Right.
- The thing is is that, you know,
I was trying to figure out how to beat my disability
because I have anxiety, depression.
I get real low.
And I'll space off.
So I can get a job, you know.
I have tons of skills and stuff like that.
But I can't keep it,
because I'll get into that anxiety or depression.
I won't go to work,
or I'll go there and I'll think somebody said something
or something happened, I'll end up getting fired.
So I had disability for years and years.
And when I came outta prison,
they put me under review and I missed the phone call
with a doctor, 'cause I didn't have a phone
and I was homeless.
And they took my check.
So when I come outta rehab after my relapse,
I don't have a check.
I don't have any income.
It's hard for me to get a job.
I feel like crap.
You know, I smell, I stink.
And I thought maybe I'd do a GoFundMe.
And I made a plan to like get a room,
because you only need, I could fund it with $30 a day,
which I could probably make doing DoorDash
if I got an electric scooter or a cheap car.
- [Mark] Yeah.
- And then, learned how to drive the big trucks.
- Yeah. - Because it's
a short thing to do.
Like it's, I can do it.
I'm not sure how long, but just a couple of months.
- Yeah. - And I could have my license.
And then I could get paid to drive across the country.
And I think, I think
that I'll be able to handle it,
because I'll be by myself.
I'll be driving in a truck.
I'll beat both my addiction and my disability.
I'll have a career. - Yeah.
- And I'll be able to see the country.
- [Mark] It's good to dream.
- So I mean. - And we were talking
about this earlier when I met you a couple hours
when you were flying a sign.
If we can find your GoFundMe, I'll post it.
- Yeah. - You know?
- Yeah, so I'm trying
to accomplish that. - But now, if we remember,
you don't know how to finance.
If we post it, are you gonna be able
to get the money from it?
- I don't know.
I've never done it. - Okay.
- I've never done it. - Yeah, yeah, yeah.
So let me give you my card and we'll make sure.
I don't wanna post, have people donate money,
and you're not able to get to it.
- Yeah, I need to be able to figure that out.
See, it was just an idea.
Like how do I get up outta the street.
- [Mark] Right, so you just
started a GoFundMe. - You know, yeah.
- [Mark] How long ago was that?
- Like a week ago.
- [Mark] Okay, so it wasn't too long ago.
- Yeah, and I don't wanna do all of this.
I don't wanna do a bunch of crazy stuff,
you know what I mean?
I don't wanna- - Yeah, yeah, yeah.
- Go back to prison.
I don't wanna do nothing illegal.
I'd rather just, you know,
try to do something, so that's what I figured I could do.
- Right. - 'Cause it's
a realistic goal, all my goals.
- [Mark] All your goals are great.
- Well, the driving a truck is like six,
12 weeks, I believe.
- Yeah. - And you have a license.
- [Mark] Okay.
- And I have a license.
So and there's plenty of companies
that hire you to drive you.
So and I love travel.
- [Mark] Right.
- And there's my kids are grown.
When I went in, they were
like 10, eight.
Now they're teens.
They're in their 20s. - Yeah.
- They have their own families.
- [Mark] So what was it like
after doing nine years and coming out?
Was there any support? - Everything's different.
Yeah, I had some support, but everything's different.
Everything's moved on.
People have their families, their lives.
People are older.
People, a lotta people died, they're gone, they're moved.
There just, everything's different.
I felt like a stranger in my own home sometimes.
- [Mark] Now where are you sleeping at?
- I sleep in this cart right here.
- [Mark] You sleep in your cart.
- I sleep on top of these blankets here.
- [Mark] Oh my gosh.
- Yeah, so I just sleep on top of the blankets.
It's actually not so bad.
It's cold, though.
- Right. - It's wicked cold.
And I take sleeping bags and I put it on top of me.
And I do that because I don't wanna be on the ground.
- [Mark] Right.
- I don't like being low, you know?
With bugs or whatever.
So I just, I figured that was the easiest way to do it.
- [Mark] Yep.
- And I don't have to pack up my bed every day.
- [Mark] Yeah, yeah. (Anthony laughing)
Pretty smart. - Yeah.
- [Mark] Pretty smart.
If you had three wishes, what would they be?
- To get that room,
to get the vehicle,
and to get my license.
- [Mark] All great wishes.
- Not the license to drive the vehicles,
to drive the trucks, you know?
- Right, right. - To accomplish
that goal. - So you have a career.
- Well, I don't know like,
I have my disability, like there's days I can't,
like I'm just- - Right.
- It's hard to explain.
It's like I'm just low.
- Yeah - You know?
And there's no function.
- Yeah. - But, I've always
loved driving, and I really, really believe
that I can beat both my disability and my addiction
with that, you know? - Yeah, yeah.
- So I think with all those goals achieved,
not only will I feel accomplished,
but I'll be able to do something better
with myself. - Is there any case manager
or anybody helping you that can help you with these goals?
- So I just came up with the plan
like a month or two ago.
I don't have really a way to research it or don't know how.
It's the first time I've been homeless.
When I went in,
I wasn't really homeless.
So I was couch surfing and stuff for a little while,
but I wasn't homeless, not like this.
Like I'm homeless on the street.
- Right. - All day long,
all night, like everything is on the street homeless.
- [Mark] And it's hard to stay sober.
It's hard to not be depressed.
- Yeah, so you know,
I wish, sometimes I wish I could get back what I lost,
but then I think you can never get back what you lost.
And maybe I just look forward instead of back,
'cause I don't wanna trip on my feet, you know?
- [Mark] Well, you have a great attitude.
- Yeah.
- [Mark] Well, thank you very much
for talking to me.
- All right, thanks, Mark.
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