- [Interviewer] Shane, we're in San Francisco,
you're homeless, tell me about it.
- Well, San Francisco's an interesting place.
Has ups and downs for sure, like any other place,
but you gotta be careful in certain areas, definitely.
Otherwise, everything's pretty kind for the most part,
I'd say 85% of it is good.
The other 15 is a little dangerous sometimes.
- [Interviewer] What's homelessness like?
- Um, it's more houseless, actually, in my opinion.
'Cause I've had houses and homes and,
I've gotten claustrophobic after my incarcerated times,
so like I was only able to hold a house most recently
since I've been out in the last five years
for I think the longest I had one was seven months
before I decided to go back out and just travel.
- [Interviewer] What was it, the housing?
- Yeah, I get claustrophobic nowadays.
Like it just gets too tedious.
Everything has a routine everyday, like I'm out here.
This out here, though, is more sporadic.
It's, you know, you're doing the same thing kind of,
but there's so many more things that happen spontaneously.
I mean, like, every other minute
every other block, there's something else.
- [Interviewer] Well you've got a good sense of humor.
We've been walking a few blocks and we had a few laughs
and you're headed to a free concert, hopefully.
- Well, it might be, well it is
because I don't have to actually go in
to listen to it because it's outdoors.
- [Interviewer] Right, right.
- I just have to listen. (laughs)
- [Interviewer] Right, right. Exactly.
- If there's someone who wants to give me a ticket
and help me through the gate, that's more awesome, too.
- [Interviewer] How many years you been out here?
- Well, 19, but 12 of them I was in prison altogether, so
- [Interviewer] So now when you got out of--
- I would say seven then, minus the 12, so.
- [Interviewer] Right, so then, you're in prison
and then when you got out, was there any support?
Or did you just go right to homelessness?
- Actually, I started initially,
okay, I had a break, after seven years, I had a break.
And so I went to, I had already like got established
at a program in LA, the Union Rescue Mission.
- [Interviewer] I know the Union Rescue Mission.
- Okay, so they let me in, I was nine months good on it
I was almost going to the second phase
I was walking back from the store
getting hygiene and a couple food supplies.
I didn't literally even jaywalk, I mean,
I was already across the street
when the hand stopped flashing and turned solid red.
And that's what they rubbed me for was walking
against the street against a solid red hand.
Well, the commissioner at that point,
after my chaplain called him cause I got a ticket,
and that was police contact which was illegal
according to the parole office and it's up to them
what they wanna do about how they wanna figure out
whatever happened, but anyways, he booked me.
He booked me for six months flat for jaywalking.
- [Interviewer] You did six months time for jaywalking?
- Yeah, on a violation off of parole, yeah.
- [Interviewer] Right, but I mean, I don't care
if it's a violation off parole, it's still, I mean--
- No, he booked me for six months.
- [Interviewer] Right, right. But the parole--
- And I was nine months sober and in a program
and going phase one to phase two in the next month,
kicking ass, not even smoking cigarettes or nothing,
like just staying straight the whole time.
And then this happened and then they screwed me
and then after that, I said fuck 'em, I'm done.
And when I got out every other time after that
I just ran and they brought me back
and I ran and they brought me back
and I asked for maximum time every time I got busted
just to get it over with.
- [Interviewer] Really?
- Yeah.
- [Interviewer] So at times, you'd rather be inside
than be out here?
- Well when they're playing that kind of bullshit on me,
yeah 'cause, they're letting me out with nowhere to go,
no community ties, everything that they actually ask,
like the first three things they ask you are:
Do you have a home or family in the area,
do you have a job, do you have a ID?
I don't have any of those three, so what happens then?
You know what I mean?
Like, you just get out on three violations automatic.
So if the one cop wants to be an ass about it,
he can fucking totally book you right there
just for those three violations
then they let you out knowing that.
- [Interviewer] But taxpayers pay for that.
- Yes, all of it.
- [Interviewer] Yeah, all of that, I mean from right down-
- Honestly, like I studied a few statistics
'cause I did a lot of studies while I was in.
I learned six languages, actually.
I earned 43 college credits
and became a pastor in six states.
- [Interviewer] Wow, what languages?
- Uh, Hebrew, Latin, Sanskrit, Greek, Italian,
I already knew Spanish, but uh,
I learned a little bit of French.
- [Interviewer] Great
- Yeah, so, I can say
(speaks in Greek)
which in Greek means, "Hi, how you doing?" formally to you.
- [Interviewer] And then you're a pastor
in some other states.
Where were we, I forgot?
You were talking about something else.
- Oh it was just about
- [Interviewer] The cops, you were doing statistics
- The cops, statistically, yeah
so everyday that we're being housed
they get paid, the last statistic I read
was $340 a day for us to be housed
is what they get paid by the federal government.
- [Interviewer] Okay, so the prison gets--
- Costs, jails, county jail, prison gets paid a little more
but we'll just stay with the county jails for now right.
So $340, you know every time they move you
from one bunk to another, they get paid $50.
Per move, from like one dorm to another,
one bunk to another, $50.
If they transport you from the court or to court,
when they transport you, it's $75 a head, each direction.
- [Interviewer] Wow
- So altogether like, the statistics stated
that $486,000 approximately, per inmate, per year
is what they say they spend.
In reality, they're only spending about $134,000 of it on us
- [Interviewer] Right, that's taxpayer money.
- Right, but that's like a quarter, or maybe a third,
actually it's probably a third
of what they're actually getting in revenue.
- [Interviewer] So, but you did your time,
you come out, you're doing good,
parole violation 'cause you're jaywalking
- Well, that was just one of them.
The other ones I got sassy with, so yeah.
- [Interviewer] Yeah, but you go away for six months,
and huge money, you know 50, 60, 70,000 dollars.
- Well you figure, at 340 a day, that's
20,000 right there approximately just to house me.
That doesn't count the food costs, and the bedding costs
and everything that they tax onto that price,
that's why they get paid so much.
- [Interviewer] Wow, so what's your future like?
- Whoo, I dunno, it's been pretty bleak lately.
Lost a lot of family members in the last two months,
and it's been harsh.
My dad, I don't know how long he's gonna make it.
He just had two heart attacks,
just had a quadruple bypass surgery.
He's hanging in, but they haven't gotten along in so long
that I dunno, I wanted to go down there
but he told me don't even bother to show up.
And that sucks, 'cause he's dying and like,
whatever I guess, I dunno.
- [Interviewer] If you had three wishes, what would they be?
- Ha, the first wish would be that
my parents were more open minded
from the beginning of my life.
Like, didn't resist or hold back my talents or anything.
My mom actually also has that regret on her shoulders
that she always talks about, but
I dunno, my second wish,
it kinda sucks I chose that for the first one,
that was pretty selfish actually,
but my second wish would be for others in my position
to have also had a different beginning, you know
that would have been more prosp, prospery,
prosperous for them or, prosperous, right.
I was saying it how it's spelled, that's funny (laughs)
My third wish, well, that all those
first two wishes came true.
- [Interviewer] Good, thank you very much for talking to me.
- Thank you for sharing also.