- [Interviewer] Tony?
- Yes.
- [Interviewer] You're homeless in Denver.
- I am.
- [Interviewer] And you're spending the day
with Denver Day Works, working.
Tell me about homelessness and tell
me about Denver Day Works.
- Well, it all started I guess
when you know, younger, I had a good
family growing up but substance abuse issues
started at a young age and I was a
functioning addict up til about thirty years old
and then when I moved out here
to try and get clean
it didn't work out quite as well
and I was on the streets out here
and still am for, it's been about six years now
but I've got three years sober
so I've been trying to get financially
stable again, I guess, essentially.
- [Interviewer] You have three
years sober and you're out on the streets?
- Yeah.
- [Interviewer] That is hard, congratulations.
- Well, single income and no Western Unions
from random relatives or anything like that
you know, so single income.
You know, Bayaud is great, they help
out with bus passes and you know,
they give you a weekly, you know.
So basically, you are a rich, homeless man, you know.
- [Interviewer] It's, so what people don't
understand is it's so hard to stay
sober out on the streets and you're doing it.
- Yeah, I didn't do it for a long time.
- [Interviewer] Right.
- You kind of just have to want it for yourself but
a Methadone clinic is what kinda gave me motivation.
- [Interviewer] Ah, and you're doing Methadone maintenance.
- Yeah and now I'm actually down to
28 milligrams right now.
- [Interviewer] Good for you!
- Yeah so I'm (mumbles)
- [Interviewer] I have a friend that--
- Things are gradually getting better.
- [Interviewer] Yeah, Methadone maintenance often has a bad
stereotype-- - Connotation, yeah.
- [Interviewer] And I have a friend
that put himself through college, got married,
all while on methadone maintenance, changed me.
And here you are doing the same thing.
- You know, about half the people use it just to
cheat the system and then the other half,
there are people trying to fix problems--
- [Interviewer] Well, people don't
understand dope sicknesses. - in their lives. (laughs)
- [Interviewer] They don't understand, they just think,
okay, you're a heroin addict
and you're gonna just, one day quit.
It's not like that.
- No, it's not.
- [Interviewer] It's where Methadone maintenance comes in.
- Yeah. - Congratulations.
- Yeah so, I'm just trying to get financially stable,
so I've got a storage unit
and just try to save money slowly.
- [Interviewer] And Denver Day Works, tell me about it.
- It's a great program.
I started with them a few months back, just one day a week.
You give them your ID and your Social.
It's all on the books and everything
and they start out one day a week, seventy bucks cash
just for a little extra in your pocket.
And then, they also help me try to find a job
and then if you stick with them for a little while,
sometimes they'll put you on a crew, like we are now,
out here, just doing, you know,
cleaning up around the city and the city in Denver,
around the Parks and Recreation,
cleaning along the rivers and, you know.
- [Interviewer] So you get lunch.
You get seventy bucks. - Yeah they give us
a pre diem for lunch everyday.
They give us seventy dollars cash.
We get paid on Thursday but it is essentially
seventy dollars cash a day, everyday.
- [Interviewer] The big one? - And the big one
is the monthly bus pass.
- [Interviewer] Oh and you get a monthly bus pass.
- And that's clutch.
- [Interviewer] For me, the big one is purpose.
You have a reason to get up in the morning.
- Oh, (laughs) yeah, yeah, absolutely!
Yeah, for sure!
- [Interviewer] You know, that is missing
in so many homeless services.
They forget that people have to have a reason
to get up in the morning, and this provides that.
- Yeah you have (murmurs) when the day is done
and you get paid, you know, you have a good feeling.
So if you go to work, you put a good day's work in.
- [Interviewer] And they're helping you get work.
- Yeah.
- [Interviewer] So, you're gonna be out of the tent soon?
- Hopefully! Yeah! - [Interviewer] Good!
- Yeah, thanks.
- [Interviewer] If you had three wishes, what would they be?
- (laughs) I don't know, to I guess stay off of opioids
for the rest of my life.
I don't know man, I don't believe in wishes. (laughs loudly)
- [Interviewer] Yeah man, it's alright
- You gotta work for him. (laughs)
- [Interviewer] You got it, to stay off
of opioids is a good one.
- Yeah, that's the best one I can think of. (laughs)
- [Interviewer] Well, thank you very much for talking.
- You're welcome.
(techno music)