Let me give you the short story.  I am the reason I am homeless, I don't blame my homelessness on things because the things that happened lead me to do this project which I find more fulfilling then any employment I have ever had. 

 

 

 

 

 

At least here I don't have to worry about someone stealing my last paycheck or my intellectual property.

In 2006 I moved here after completing a consulting contract for Austria’s largest exporter SEDA Environmental (www.seda.at ask Josef Dagn about me).  I took a job here working for Circulation Promoters, where I shattered sales records selling Detroit Free Press and Detroit News subscriptions.  I quit that job to open a distributorship for WEN Industries here (New Hampshire, ask Warren about me).  Then I was set up.

 

In 2008 I was staying at 12 and Van Dyke at a hotel with my girlfriend at the time.  In the parking lot a man in a white van backed into my 2006 Dodge Durango SLT with 15,000 miles on it.  3 minutes later Warren police showed up.  The plain clothed officer asked me "what happened?"  I said "Well, someone backed into my truck, I was going to call you, however this is private property and since you really have no jurisdiction for an accident on private property I decided not to waste your time, I am going to call my insurance and have to pay for it myself.  Thank you for your concern and have a good night."  I started to walk away and he said "hold on, can I search you?"  I said "Why?"  He said "Your acting funny." I am thinking that because I know law he finds this strange, well in that case I said "no."  He jumped out of the car and pushed me up against the hood of my Durango and proceeded to pull everything out of my pockets.  He found a pack of orange Zig-Zags.  I carried them for rolling tobacco.  And although I have been know to smoke MJ, at this time in my life I was not, and had not smoked in months.  Often people would ask me if I had a paper, so I carried them with me for the dual purpose. He said "What’s that?" I said "Rolling papers to roll cigarettes".  He said "No, that is probable cause."  According to the supreme court it is most certainly not. I said "Probable cause for what?"  He said "Can I search your vehicle?"  Now if I had something in the car I would have allowed it taking that chance he would not find anything.  Because I knew I had nothing in the car I decided to give him a hard time and said "no."  So he handcuffed me and put me in the back of the car.  Then a drug dog showed up.  The dog went around the truck 3 times and verified what I already know, there was nothing there.  Somehow he unlocked the door.  I still don't know how he did this since the keys where with me.  With his back toward me, he reached up with his left hand to his breast pocket, pulled out a joint then turned around and said "what’s this?"  I said "I don't know, is it a cigarette?"  He said "No this is a joint, I am arresting you for possession of marijuana, we are impounding your truck".  So, if anyone is interested in checking the copcam from the car this is all verifiable.  They arrested my girlfriend for possession of Adderall, which I know she did not have.  Now here is the thing, 6 months after this the FBI busted these same cops for setting people up, that did not however get my charges dropped or my possessions back.  I was living hotel to hotel at the time, as I am a consultant, I was looking into places for my WEN distributorship, and there where some spots in Warren I was interested in.  I often do that keeping all my client files, computer equipment and business attire in a mobile fashion so that I can go where the next contract is.  I lost my truck, my passport, all forms of identification for that matter, my phone, business files and credit cards, along with $2,000 cash which conveniently never made it to the station. 

 

So, when I got out of jail I was homeless, with no identification, and no way to get it (I was born in CA and they required a notarized document, which I could not get without ID).  I was told in jail to find a guy named Santa Clause at 8 and Woodward and he would show me how to work the corner.  You see without proper identification or resources I could not do consulting or gain employment.  So I found Santa Clause (I heard he works in Royal Oak now) and he taught me how to fly a sign at 8 and Woodward. 

 

Now I have worked on and off here since 2009, there have been periods where I have gotten a job, a place, etc., only to have it dissolve as I am finding out most people won't hire a homeless person because there are so many non-homeless looking for work, and the ones that will can't get anyone else to work for them because they do bad business.  ( I am not speaking of you kind folks who give work like painting or shoveling snow, yard work etc. that I meet on the corner).  I would find myself working then all the sudden someone would close the business, or they would not pay me, or I would find out they were doing something crooked and back to the corner I would go.

 

I was happy to learn that in 2012 the Supreme Court of the United States overturned Michigan’s panhandling law as unconstitutional.  The sign that I fly falls in the category as protected by my constitutional right to freedom of speech.  I simply say "WILL WORK."  And I mean it.  There are just some jobs I cannot do.  So from now on you can register these jobs and I will find someone to do them for you.

 

I have been incarcerated 3 times before 2012 for panhandling and never had any problems with Detroit Police until the last 5 months.  There are 3 officers who have made it their mission to steal everything we here at the corner own as often as they can.  I feel horrible that many of you where kind enough to supply us with cloths and the like only to have it thrown away by the police.  A teacher spent $50 buying me shoes and socks, and they threw it away 2 days after I received it.  That guy works hard for that money, spent some to give me some good shoes which I desperately needed, he was shocked when I told him.  They threaten me with malicious prosecution when I inform them that I am breaking no laws.  These 3 officers are ignorant to the law as it is now, and have committed armed robbery, stealing and willfully destroying my possession, and those of the others around, on numerous occasions.  The last incident they destroyed my birth certificate, (which was really hard to get) social security card, all my winter things along with a book that I wrote and was doing the final edit before being published.  I have a suit pending and will keep ya'll updated.  If I where to do the same thing to someone the charges would be armed robbery from the state and the feds would be able to put me away for 5 years for knowingly destroying someone’s identification.

 

Its like this.  In this situation, I have no friends or family that I can turn to.  Because of my demographic there are no state programs to help me.  I can't get financial aid for housing unless I have a mental problem.  Unfortunately I do not, however I have been advised by the organizations that try to help people like me get housing that I could fake it with the psych people, however I can't bring myself to do it.  When I have applied for jobs I have been turned down because I am over qualified or they pass me by because of my background check.  Even if I did get a job, I need money daily, I can't wait 3 weeks for my first check.  With unemployment as high as it is, it is inevitable that some of us will be without work.  So I resign to make my own work and continue working on the corner until it is a success.

 

 

There are 4 options left to me.  I could steal, deal drugs, prostitute, or fly a sign.  The first 3 are out of the question.  I am not slick enough to steal, I am not mean enough to deal drugs, and I am not pretty enough to prostitute.  So, you see me at 8 and Woodward.  I mean what else am I supposed to do?  Just lay down and starve to death?

 

 

I thank God daily for the kindness that you, the people of Detroit, (and now hopefully folks all over the internet) have shown me.  Last winter, when the shelters where full and the temperatures dropped below zero, I would have died if it were not for your gifts of warm things, food and money.  We all here comment to each other how much we appreciate you folks out there.

 

I have been kicking this idea around for a while, when the police destroyed my book, which I saw as the light at the end of the tunnel which would finally once and for all get me off the corner, it motivated me to launch.  I see thousands of cars in my 7am to 11pm days on the corner, (even though I do sleep there most of the time I don't count the night as for the most part it is few and far between with donations), there are over 500 million English speaking individuals who access the internet.  There is no reason why I cannot make $1 Million, and then bless the next in line, and that person could bless the next and so on and so on. After I help myself get off the streets permanently, I will get another safe, and another, and another, till I am to old to do this.