41 minute read

VENDOR’S FAVORITE SPOT IN PHILLY

WHAT’S YOUR FAVORITE SPOT IN PHILLY?

“Love Park or Penn’s Landing.” — Deirdre Boylan

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“Delaware Avenue.” — Jerry Ellis

“The Northeast and the mall.” — William Powell

“I love picnics and fishing. Anywhere, near the two rivers is wonderful for me.” — Jeff Greene

“Boathouse row, I love the drive and everything.” — Maria James

“Wissahickon Creek. That’s my getaway spot. I’d go there a lot when I was little. I used to go there and fish with my grandfather. There’s nice people up there. I wish I could live there but I can’t afford the car insurance.” — Kevin Wiehsner

WHAT DOES HOMELESSNESS MEAN TO YOU?

“To me, homelessness is being without shelter, without a roof over your head. I wouldn’t say it is being shunned, but people turning away from you. But it’s definitely having a door slammed in your face. For me, it means being alone. Because there is no one there to really help you when you need it the most. That’s what it is. And it means putting yourself in danger and putting yourself at risk in health too.” — Maria James

“Homelessness is having nowhere to go.” — Deirdre Boylan

“No one is above being homeless. No one. Homelessness can be a state of mind. I believe, to me, it could be considered a state of mind. It could be a lack of resources, depression, hopelessness, circumstances that make you feel that the only thing you can do is to be homeless.” — Neal McLaurin

“We are all one step away from being homeless.” — Sylvia Williams

CHARLES BLAKESLEY

21ST & HAMILTON STREETS VENDOR SINCE MAY 2018

Growing up Charles had a normal, stable life, but wasn’t working any good jobs to support himself. He worked jobs at pizza shops and food places. Charles describes homelessness simply: “being homeless just means, having no key to anything.” Charles was homeless two years ago, from 2014-2017. As Charles opens up about how he became homeless, he says: “I was dependent on drugs and alcohol, on top of the fact that I was not working any good paying jobs.” The thing that actually made Charles homeless was an argument with his landlord, resulting in him moving out. Luckily, Charles had friends to help him out at the time and RHD to help him get housing and back on his feet. “One Step Away has helped me a lot,” he says, “it’s helped me establish connections.” When asked if he thinks his life is on the right track, Charles responded “Yes, my life is a lot better I have learned to live more stably.” In the future Charles wants to travel and become an architect to work on big buildings.

“Being homeless just means, having no key to anything.” — Charles Blakesley

SLOBODAN MRKOJEVIC

12TH & FILBERT STREETS VENDOR SINCE OCTOBER 2012

Slobodan has a different outlook on life than your average person. He says homelessness “means, a little free sky, freedom, and no thinking: the only thing you have to worry about is money for food.” Slobodan experienced two heart surgeries and lost his job – as a result he became homeless. He is fighting with the government to put him on disability, but that is still a struggle. “I had no support, I had to try to save money and book rooms for one night.” Slobodan wrote two books and made profit off of them, he says a lot of people like his writing including his poetry. When asked do you feel like your life is progressing, Slobodan responded, “Honestly, no, but I can’t change it. It’s just life — so much thinking.” There’s a quote that Slobodan lives by: “I know, I don’t know anything.” In the future Slobodan wants to become a millionaire.

JERRY TUCKER

10TH & SOUTH STREETS VENDOR SINCE SEPTEMBER 2012

Jerry Tucker became homeless at 16-yearsold when his mother passed away. He has been in shelters ever since. To Jerry being homeless means: “having nowhere to go. You’re stuck in the streets and in shelters — your family even turns their backs on you.” Jerry had a normal life, he had good jobs and a relationship. But Jerry understands how quickly you can become homeless: “for me it was simply just losing things. I lost my job, then my relationship, then my home.” One Step Away helped Jerry a lot; he was able to rent a low-income apartment and learned to spend money on things he really needs like food and clothes. First starting as a vendor at One Step Away was very hard for Jerry, “I couldn’t do it at first, it was a slow process. A friend told me to, ‘hang in there,’ and I did.” Jerry says that person was his guardian angel because he was ready to give up. He feels as though he is on the right path, in the future he wants to own a business and get his sales license. The number one thing that Jerry lives by is that you have to want to help yourself.

“Homelessness is having nowhere to go. You’re stuck in the streets and in shelters, your family even turns their backs on you.” — Jerry Tucker

ZACHARY CALDWELL

BROAD & CECIL B. MOORE VENDOR SINCE MAY 2014

Zachary responded that he had “an average normal life,” before experiencing homelessness. When asked how homelessness feels he answered, “It feels like your stranded, it’s a lot of pressure and you just feel alienated. You feel isolated and just feel like you’re at a loss.” Unfortunately, Mr. Caldwell had issues with his landlord, and had to go to court. So he had to find a new place to reside, but he couldn’t. Zachary thanks God that he had supports while he was homeless through a couple of relatives and the Veterans Administration. Also, he says One Step Away helps him:“it helps occupy me doing sales work, marketing, and getting contact with people. OSA helped me get into the mainstream of life, and feel less isolated.” He said just starting out and trying to make sales is somewhat hard, but, if you speak up and speak out, then people will pay attention. Zachary lives by the motto, “silence is golden except when you’re selling newspapers. You have to make yourself known and have some type of sales pitch.” Zachary said he feels as though his life is going in the right direction, and in the future he plans to continue writing and contributing to the community.

“It feels like you’re stranded, it’s a lot of pressure and you just feel alienated. You feel isolated and just feel like you’re at a loss.” — Zachary

EDWARD JOHNSON

15TH & JFK STREETS VENDOR SINCE JULY 2018

Edward Johnson had a very good life before becoming homeless. He took care of his kids, had a lot of money, wore nice clothes, and had nice sneakers. Unfortunately, a couple of bad decisions forced him to experience homelessness. He said homelessness is: “having nowhere to go.” Edward currently lives in a shelter but still considers himself homeless because it’s truly not his own place. Mr. Johnson has been a vendor for One Step Away since July — and says the program really helps him: “It helps keep money in my pocket and make connections with different people.” Edward already has sales experience, so he said selling One Step Away was not hard, but he said to truly make an impact you have to want to do it. “It’s about how you present yourself.” What makes Edward’s search for a permanent home challenging is that he has to essentially do it himself. He can’t get help from the shelter because he is an able person, and individuals having mental illness or substance abuse disorders are the shelter’s top priority. When asked whether he’s on the right path, Mr. Johnson responded, “I think I’m on the right path. I am slowly progressing.” In the future Edward said he plans to get custody of his kids, and a four-bedroom house. The number one thing Edward says he has to do to attain these goals is hold himself accountable and maintain a plan. “I’m currently homeless and living on the streets after losing my job May 7. Since then I’ve had two surgeries.” — Edward Johnson

LISTEN TO EDWARD’S FULL STORY ON “HEARD”, ONE STEP AWAY’S NEW PODCAST SERIES.

Profiles By: Jaymes Savage, Volunteer Writer, Senior at Sankofa Freedom Academy Charter School

Jaymes Savage is a high school senior that attends Sankofa Freedom Academy Charter School in Kensington. He has a 3.6 GPA and has been accepted into 30+ colleges some with scholarships. He wanted to volunteer because he loves to hear people’s stories and has always heard that he was a good writer. Jaymes is a student-athlete whose high school team just recently won a state championship. Mr. Savage has always loved being involved because in life he just simply wants to make a different and make the world a better place. Mr. Savage intends to continue his servant leadership and activism in the future years that are ahead of him, and his future is very bright.

“Being a vendor has taught me to be self-motivated and self-reliant.” — Ram

20 TH & MARKET STS . RICHARD “RAM” VENDOR SINCE FEB. 2012RAMSON

“I’ve come to realize that me being homeless steams from my childhood - like I was sent to a group home at 10-years-old. 10. Then, at 18 I was out of foster care. I had nothing, I knew nothing, but I had to make it on my own.” — Ram

By: Richard “Ram” Ramson I grew up in the City of Philadelphia. My mother and father did not raise me. So as a little boy I did not receive the proper love, care, nurturance, and support that is necessary for a child to be productive and successful in life. This love, care, nurturance, and support is the natural order of things when it comes to being a loving and caring family, but when you come from the druginfested and violent environment I lived in, most times we develop habits that are destructive, leading to counterproductive lifestyles based on the unnatural, unhealthy, and dysfunctional ways we are raised.

I moved in with my Aunt around the age of five or six. She started off doing a good job of raising me until drugs came into the picture. Her drug of choice was cocaine which lead to a crack cocaine addiction. Her addiction led to me being neglected by her, so at the age of ten the Department of Human Services aka DHS came knocking. At ten years old I was taken from my family and put in a group home as part of the foster system. I was in the DHS system until the age of 18. All of these experiences were traumatizing, leaving me lost for years because I could not move beyond my past — I was stuck there. In 2003, I felt like I received a revelation from God, my purpose. It was writing. I started writing poems and lyrics. I went to my first open mic in August of 2003. Fifteen plus years later, I’ve established myself as a poet, emcee, speaker, etc... Most of my writing is based around healing from my past traumas (especially from my childhood). I use my creative writing abilities to tell stories and messages about my past in hopes of inspiring others to know that no matter what you’ve been through, as long as you’re still breathing you have the opportunity to turn your life around and make things better yourself and those around you. One Step Away (OSA) has truly been a blessing. It has helped me sustain myself over the last seven years, and it keeps me hopeful knowing that as long as I continue to work diligently and move forward in a positive matter in my life, things will always get better. Since 2013, I’ve been in the shelter system four times. Through it all I’ve been able to maintain a sense of dignity because of OSA. I am able to do for myself which allows me to improve my life by being self-sufficient and self-reliant. It is up to me to get-up and go make it happen! Also, as recent as February 16, 2018, my first child, my daughter Symphony Grace, came into this world. She is truly a blessing in my life. She motivates me on another level to get things in order in my life, especially housing. It’s all about her needs and giving her the proper love, care, nurturance, and support necessary for a child to be productive and successful in this world. Like all children do, she requires a stable living environment where she can grow up secure, healthy, and protected. I am thankful for people like Emily Taylor who has been there for me (and all other vendors) through the ups and downs of OSA. She has never given up on us, and in return there are those of us who have never given up on ourselves because of her efforts. I thank her so much for supporting us, helping us, standing up for us, and most of all loving us. I have a strong work ethic and leadership. I am a man of integrity, honesty, and commitment. I am passionate and confident in what I do, especially when I believe in something. I’ve dreamed of having access to resources that give us OSA vendors the opportunity to gain housing. I will set the tone necessary for years to come for what a successful model looks like in the form of an OSA vendor accomplishing goals and maintaining housing simply because they were given a chance. I also have a family now with my daughter Symphony. As soon as she arrived, I’ve been focused even more on gaining housing, so I can give her a place to call home. She brightens up my life and I love that I am her father. I know life hasn’t been an easy one for me, but I will do everything in my power to make sure she experiences a better upbringing than I had. Over the last seven years of being an OSA vendor I’ve demonstrated a level of consistency that reflects me being a responsible adult. I’ve been one of the main voices of OSA resulting in me winning the advocacy award last year alongside Bill Anderson of FOX 29 News. Being a vendor has taught me to be self-motivated and selfreliant. I am also hungry for this opportunity. I’ve dreamed of and prayed for this opportunity knowing that having my own place to call home would create such goodness and stability in my life, especially now since I have a daughter. All these years with OSA I was seeking my own place and taking steps towards that reality.

LISTEN TO RAM’S FULL STORY ON “HEARD”, ONE STEP AWAY’S NEW PODCAST SERIES.

RICHARD “RICHIE” SCHEERER

30TH & MARKET STREETS VENDOR SINCE JANUARY 2019

Born in Port Richmond, you can now find Richie at 30th Street Station vending magazines when he’s not delivering cookies as a bicycle courier. Since beginning both of these jobs in the last several months, Richie says he’s proudest of “realizing his self-worth before it was too late.” He’s grateful: “Being given the opportunities to do and achieve what I always wanted.” Most recently this goal has been to find permeant housing in South Philly. Now, because of these opportunities, the goal seems achievable. Richard maintains the belief that we live on Mother Earth, so how is anyone homeless? He goes on to say, “At least that’s how I personally felt about my situation being nomadi for almost 4 years on and off.” But he adds, “I also believe that if you don’t have closed quarters to lay your head it could be a challenge.” He would advise other homeless to keep pushing: “don’t give in to what would be even a worse demise for yourself. Take this as an opportunity to start things off fresh and do not create the thought that you’re stuck and failing, or moving backwards, because it could only be uphill from here.” He would advise a new vendor, “don’t just sell the magazines or promote the organization, promote yourself and network like your life depends on it as well, because it does.”

DEIRDRE BOYLAN

30TH & MARKET STREETS VENDOR SINCE DECEMBER 2018

Originally from Fairmount, Deidre still calls Philly home and can be found in Northwest Center City where she has been a vendor for three months. Vending for One Step Away has helped her financially, and she has since obtained housing. She’s made progress quickly because she’s naturally motivated every day. She likes people and making connections with them, though she says the experience has taught her patience. She encourages other homeless not to give up. And for those who want to help she says to “Help [the homeless] to get a leg up. You never know what might change someone’s life.” She also encourages OSA readers to make connections with their vendors. If she could give her younger self advice, she’d tell herself to make better choices and take care of herself and her health. But she’d also council herself to trust in people “There are good people out there.” When she’s not vending, Deidre enjoys time with her friends who inspire her to be free and happy. She likes to read and maintain her 10-month recovery, which is her greatest accomplishment. Her goals include rebuilding a great relationship with her son James who she loves. Deidre also loves her mother Moira, who was her greatest influence. She feels most would be surprised to know how loving she is. Her goals also include to travel to several destinations including Ireland, Amsterdam, and Norway.

When she is home in Philly her favorite spots include Love Park and Penn’s Landing.

WILLIAM POWELL

17TH & BEN FRANKLIN PARKWAY VENDOR SINCE NOVEMBER 2013

Originally from North Philly, you can find William in Northwest Center City at 17th and the Ben Franklin Parkway. He is proud to have been a vendor for six years, and it has changed his life. He now has his own income and the resources to get back on his feet. He has learned to stick with vending for One Step Away to maintain a stable employment status. If he could give his former self advice, he tell himself to “stick with One Step Away and recovery until you overcome.” In addition to his recovery, William is motivated by the idea of filling up his bank accounts. His goals, in addition to making money and moving away from homelessness, include visiting Walt Disneyworld. When in Philly, and not vending magazines, you can find him in the Northeast, the mall, and the movie theater. He has been most influenced by his church, and he is inspired now by church relatives. William advises others experiencing homelessness that there is a homeless hotline. It will direct them where they can get help. He feels the thing that homeless need help with the most is information on shelters and meals, and also information on treatment and recovery. But if they need a job, he’d direct them right away to One Step Away.

BERNARD RUSSEL

18TH & WALNUT STREETS VENDOR SINCE NOVEMBER 2017

Bernard was born in South Philly, and he currently lives in West Philly. He vends One Step Away Magazine in our Southwest Center City Neighborhood Zone. You can find him at 18th and Walnut, next to the Barnes & Noble, if you would like to buy a magazine from him. Bernard has personally never experienced homeless, but that has not stopped him from recommending becoming a vendor to multiple people in need. People who Bernard recommended, he says, “seem to be doing pretty well now.” This is one of the things he’s proudest of. He feels his biggest accomplishment is being able to meet and open-up to all those he has met through his job. He would advise other homeless to never give up and reach out to the Lord. “Religion is important to keep your inner strength,” says Bernard. And he would advise them to try One Step Away. As Bernard believes, “it’s better than panhandling, because you meet a lot of different people that can help you out in different ways.” Bernard would give the same advice a new vendor: to not give up. “You just don’t know what you’re doing when you first start. You aren’t going to make a whole lot of money in the beginning, but just don’t give up. Stay the course. Find a location and stay at that location and develop it. Eventually it will pay off.” Bernard also has sound advice for anyone wishing to help the homeless: “give them a couple of bucks.” That’s what he does, in addition to passing out a lot of clothes and socks.

SYLVIA WILLIAMS

12TH & FILBERT STREETS VENDOR SINCE MAY 2017

If you’re in our Northeast Center City Neighborhood grabbing a bite in Reading Terminal, you can also grab a One Step Away Magazine from Sylvia, a vendor originally from South Philly. She feels selling the magazine “has given her another chance at life,” and is one of her biggest accomplishments. “I’m also proud that I’ve been clean for a while, doing One Step Away, staying alive and well, and being responsible for her life.” Sylvia feels strongly that “we are all just one step away from homelessness.” This is the advice she would give someone who is homeless, along with food and clothes. She advises that those that want to help do the same. “Donate food, clothing, blankets, and toiletries.” Her advice to someone in need or new vendors would be to stick with the vendor program: “doing One Step Away will keep you from being penniless and homeless, and living in the street.”

“Doing One Step Away will keep you from being penniless and homeless, and living in the street.” — Sylvia Williams

JERRY ELLIS

20TH & MARKET STREETS VENDOR SINCE APRIL 2012

When you shop at Trader Joe’s in OSA’s Northwest Center City Neighborhood, you can purchase a One Step Away Magazine from Jerry Ellis, a West Philly native who has been vending for the magazine for seven years. One Step Away changed Jerry’s life, “it gave me a job.” Working is his favorite thing to do and his biggest accomplishment and what he’s most proud of is, “working. That I am in the shape to work.” He thinks other’s might be surprised to hear that he works every day. He keeps himself motivated by thinking, “I’m going to get off these streets one day,” and by listening to songs like Papa Was A Rolling Stone. He would advise other vendors or homeless to: “keep on trying and not let others discourage you.” If you are looking to do something or support the homeless or a your regular vendor Jerry suggests: “Take them and feed them.” Jerry doesn’t have any dreams of visiting faraway foreign places, but he does like to visit Georgia when he travels. He would like to go back to school and write a book. If he’s ever not working, you could look to find Jerry along Delaware Avenue near the casino, his favorite pastime area of the city.

“I’m going to get off these streets one day,” — Jerry Ellis.

17 TH & MARKET STS . KEVIN WIEHSNER

VENDOR SINCE 2017

“I appreciate everyone that donates to OSA and I thank you from the bottom of my heart. You helped change my life. That’s the truth. And I really do appreciate you. Thank you.” — Kevin Wiehsner

Kevin Wiehsner is 40-years-old and works as a One Step Away vendor at 17th & Market, inside the BNY Mellon Building. Originally from Roxborough, Kevin is currently living in North Philly, although he is saving up to move into a nicer neighborhood, “one with less crime so I can begin a new chapter in my life.” Kevin first started with One Step Away in 2014 & 2015. Between 2015 and his return to OSA in 2017 Kevin was arrested and in jail. “When I was released back in October 2017, I came right back to the One Step Away vendor site.” Kevin worked hard as a vendor and saved his money, he was able to get his own apartment in December 2017.

As Kevin explains about being a One Step Away vendor: “it completely changed my life for the best. It made me financially stable, and it gave me different opportunities in life.” While Kevin was able to save enough money to get off the streets and into an apartment he says he wants to move to a nicer neighborhood, but has been hard due to his criminal record.

“It’s becoming hard for me to find a place, because of my record — 17 years upstate. It is so frustrating and hard. It’s so crazy to me, someone’s trying to change their life and do something for the better, but my past keeps coming back to haunt me. It’s so hard and challenging. It’s a shame. It is. It really is. The system, you know, is hard. I don’t know what to do now. I had the furniture picked out, I had the bed waiting, everything. And now, I don’t know. I put so much energy into that; I put everything I had into that. I guess I’m not allowed to live in the city, I’m this big monster.” With a record, Kevin say his choices have been limited, and after losing the last apartment he hoped to move into, he is beginning to lose hope altogether. “If I can’t find a place in the city that I can afford. If I can’t find that, I don’t know what to do. I want to get out of North Philly and start a new chapter of my life elsewhere.” He knows he made mistakes in his past and is trying to leave them behind and look towards the future; “I want to eventually own a home, possibly a car, and start a family. I want two kids.” “I keep myself motivated because One Step Away is all I have, and without it I would be homeless. And that’s why I’ve never missed a day since I started. I don’t want to go back to that. That’s what keeps me motivated.” Kevin continues talking about all he’s learned being a One Step Away vendor: “OMG, people skills. I’m able to talk to different people — older to younger. I meet people from all sorts of backgrounds. You have no idea how many people I talk to and care about me. It’s insane, it’s crazy. There are a lot of good people out there.” “I think about it all the time; I know I’m very fortunate where I’m at. And I’m able to see the same people every day. And I have hundreds of relationships that I’ve built over the past year. It’s amazing.” If you want to help someone struggling, Kevin says, “Try and show them a path they can take to improve their lives.” For people still experiencing homelessness, Kevin offers some words of wisdom. “If you are currently experiencing homelessness or a struggle, do not to give up. Don’t give up! It’s hard in the beginning, but it will get better, you just have to stick with it.”

WHAT’S THE BEST THING SOMEONE CAN DO FOR THOSE LIVING ON THE STREETS?

“Take care of them and feed them.” — Jerry Ellis

“Teach them how to survive. Help them to learn more responsibility.” — Maria James

“There is a homeless hotline which will direct you to were you can get help. Give them information on shelters and meals. Or if they want a job, tell them about One Step Away.” — William Powell

“Try and show them a path they can take to improve their lives.” — Kevin Wiehsner

“Help them get a leg up. You never know what might change someone’s life.” — Deirdre Boylan

“I would suggest that anyone who might be homeless, jobless, and in any way considering helping those who are in need, to contact One Step Away and listen to some of the best advice available.” — Jeff Greene

“Donate and give out clothing, toiletries, and blankets.” — Sylvia Williams

LISTEN TO NEAL’S FULL STORY ON “HEARD”, ONE STEP AWAY’S NEW PODCAST SERIES, MAY 6 AT 8AM.

NEAL MCLAURIN KEVIN JAMES

COTTMAN AVE. & ROOSEVELT BLVD. VENDOR SINCE NOVEMBER 2016

Neal McLaurin likes to vend the magazine, meet people, and recite Shakespeare: “people don’t believe me when I tell them I studied theater, they’re like ‘nah this bull doesn’t know Shakespeare’, then they are amazed when I recite it word for word.” Neal likes to travel around neighborhoods teaching people about One Step Away, what it does for the community, and how it can help someone in need. He’s often traveling through Northeast Philly when vending.

Originally from North Philadelphia, Neal first became homeless in the summer of 2007. “I became homeless due to financial issues and alcohol abuse,” but it started earlier than that. “It started as a kid growing up. The struggles I saw with my family and those around me,” Neal remembers his childhood. “When you grow up in the inner city it can lead to homelessness and PTSD. You’re traumatized. And you don’t get the right education.”

Neal has dyslexia, so when he was younger school was hard for him: “I had to take special education, and I was picked on and bullied.” Neal says he remembers himself feeling like he was falling behind, especially because his school lacked the resources he really needed to succeed. His family atmosphere wasn’t much better: “there was a lot of alcoholism around.” Neal recalls falling into bad habits and feeling lost and alone: “I had the homeless mentality.” “I was getting bullied so much that I learned how to box, that’s what started me in the gym.” From boxing, Neal learned how to have a positive attitude and motivation. Although the trauma and stress he endeared as a child lead him to begin drinking. “I was just in a negative mindset, it was dragging me down, and I felt like there was no way out,” Neal says.

Neal’s turning point came when he started seeing spots from drinking. He remembered his boxing training and the strength physical activity gave him. “Your mind and your body are so linked.” Neal started to exercise again and started to pray and do meditation. He also started going to AA meetings, “the 12 steps of Alcoholics Anonymous helps me as well.” He joined a theatre and acting class, started writing, and performing poetry.

Now Neal has bigger goals: “I’m a personal trainer, I’m an advocate for helping children. I want to start a theatre and fitness program.” He stays motivated by his nephew, nieces, and little brother, but he knows you need inner strength.

“I keep going to see myself achieve what I want to achieve one day, as long as I keep moving forward,” says Neal. 24 ONE STEP AWAY

19TH & CHESTNUT STREETS VENDOR SINCE MAY 2018

Kevin James was homeless for 20 years. “Yea, I did all that. Living on the streets, eating out of trash cans — I started cardboard city back in the day. I panhandled just to survive.” Now living in a recovery house, Kevin can look back on his life with some clarity. “I’m not ashamed, I want people to know what it was like, and I’m proud of what I’m doing now,” says Kevin.

“I used to panhandle on the same corner I’m working on now.” — Kevin James

LORENZO CHALMERS

16TH & WALNUT STREETS VENDOR SINCE SEPTEMBER 2016

Lorenzo started with One Step Away after his friend, Ram, recommended it to him. He decided to become a vendor “to be more productive on getting the word out about homelessness.” Lorenzo enjoys meeting new people and engaging with the public. He also likes writing for the magazine, “it gives me a voice.” Lorenzo wants to thank everyone who supports him, “I love meeting new people so it is a great job. I have a more positive outlook because of OSA. It’s my main source of income and it brightened my future.”

JEFF GREENE

20TH & MARKET STREETS VENDOR SINCE SEPTEMBER 2010

I have enjoyed the privilege of being a vendor for One Step Away for almost nine years now. My re-start date was September 2010. I was signed up earlier back then, but I walked away from it because it did not seem to be right for me at the time. Being a vendor helped me express myself. I have always wanted to express my life through being a writer or journalistic story-teller through the media from a very early age. Honestly, I can say that through being a One Step Away vendor I have learned to extend myself to each and every human that I happen to meet. I have learned the value of my own “born this way” expression of myself as a human doing, as well as being. At my tender age of 66, I have become accustomed to embracing each and every Moment as a Blessing granted to me for the creation of positive and loving joy for my world and all life. I would suggest that anyone who might be homeless, jobless and in any way considering helping those who are in need, contact One Step Away and listen to some of the best advice available. I suggest that a person living on the streets might consider talking to one of our Vendors and calling the city’s fine Outreach program. The best thing someone can do for One Step Away vendors is to support us financially and compassionately. We are all about real change for ourselves and for our many fine supporters, too!

CHESTER WILCZYNSKI

16TH & MARKET STREETS VENDOR SINCE NOVEMBER 2016

As I sit back and look back at my past like I have so many times before, I recognize now the bad decisions and what devastated my life the most. Now besides drug addiction that I battled with for many years, homelessness and worrying about rent all the time, if I’ll have somewhere to sleep tonight. These are all just parts of my life that I have experienced first-hand. Not minimizing anything else I was taught in recovery, that your basic needs need to be met in order for you to be able feel better about yourself and start to recover. A person who can’t meet their basic needs of food, shelter, clothing has almost an impossible chance to do anything not just recover. I am talking about these things because I want to let you know that I truly understand the importance of housing and the effect it can have on the spirit of an individual — bringing out the best in them. It sits at the top of the tree under the necessities. If a man is sleeping on cardboard, he is going to have a problem trying to stop using because he is probably using to cope with that. At least it did with me. Now that I have been off of heroin for coming up five years, I see what it has done. I owe a lot of my recovery to my son, because I really want a life for my family. But I had to change my thinking, and people and my surroundings, but mostly my thinking. You could call it instant gratification... No patience... So, at the end of the day I am blessed to make it to the other side with my life and have a family. Thank you for all of the support and opportunities. Thank You...

TIMOTHY ADAMS

13TH & MARKET STREETS VENDOR SINCE MAY 2018

Tim is currently not homeless, but likes to work. “My biggest accomplishment is working for a job, he says. “I like to talk to people about the paper.” Tim enjoys meeting new people and the experiences he has while vending One Step Away. Having a supportive community is a big reason Tim likes to vend. He encourages new vendors to stay with it, “at first it will be hard, but you got to have patience and understanding— but they won’t forget you,” he says referring to our community. Tim admits he doesn’t know the best way to help someone experience homelessness, but he tries and gives people food when he can. He also wants to remind people on the streets: “keep your head up, it will get better.”

“Homelessness, to me, is one of the worst situations I have had the experience of going through a few times when I was younger — and to me it was earth shattering.” —Chester Wilczynski

WHAT ADVICE WOULD YOU GIVE TO PEOPLE EXPERIENCING HOMELESSNESS OR NEW VENDORS?

“Keep on trying. Don’t let people discourage you.” — Jerry Ellis

“Don’t be discouraged, and keep trying.” — Maria James

“There is a homeless hotline which will direct you to were you can get help. If you’re in need of recovery, look for a One Step Away vendor and get the information that you need. And if you need a job, come to One Step Away.” — William Powell

“You might not feel that there is any way out, but there might be a way out, a lot of times there is.” — Neal McLaurin

“Don’t give up. It’s hard in the beginning, but it will get better - you just have to stick with it.” — Kevin Wiehsner

“Don’t give up.” — Deirdre Boylan

“I would suggest that anyone who might be homeless, jobless, and in any way considering helping those who are in need, to contact One Step Away and listen to some of the best advice available.” — Jeff Greene

“Keep your head up, it will get better.” — Timothy Adams

4TH & MARKET STS .

VENDOR SINCE FEB.

2016

KAREEM JONES

I am Kareem Jones and I have been working for One Step Away since 2016. I began working here shortly after I threw my back out. All of my previous jobs involved heavy lifting, mainly construction labor; moving drywall, cement bags, and shingles. I was also moving furniture. When I threw my back out, I could hardly walk, so I was completely out of work. That is until I worked for One Step Away. I was then able to earn an income, work on communication skills, and meet a lot of interesting people. When I see construction workers walking by with their tools and hard hats, I think about how much I miss doing construction. Earlier this year I noticed my back had been fine for the last two years, so I was going to look for construction work or move furniture again. But then in February, I threw my back out again. My doctor recommended therapy, which I did, so hopefully I won’t have this problem again. Since then I got hired at First Step Staffing as a food runner. So now I have two jobs, and in May I will be studying to become a certified peer specialist. One Step Away vendors see a lot of what’s going on, and we always try to help others. I once saw a guy punch a woman in the face knocking her to the ground and then he tried to kick her. When I approached him, he ran away. Had I not been on the job, I would not have been in a position to help her. A lot of our vendors have been through some tough times and have compassion for others in need. Back when we were a newspaper I was at work when I saw a woman walking down the street crying. We wound up talking for over 30 minutes about problems in life, we talked about God and relationship drama. I was trying to make money, but I put my needs aside because she was deeply troubled. She eventually stopped crying and felt better so I was glad to help. And it turns out she knew about One Step Away and gave me money. Just recently I was selling magazines when a woman walked out of a store and just burst into tears. Someone she trusted stole some items from her house and while in the store she realized this person had also stolen all of the money from her pocketbook. She was worried about what her kids would eat for dinner. I gave her some money and bought her some food from the store. She was really grateful and hugged me like five times. She promised to pay me back, but I told her not to worry about it, to God be the glory. It is not in God’s plan for a person to be alone during troubled times. It is in God’s plan for us to always help those in need. Thank you to everyone who supports One Step Away and appreciates all of the work we do behind the scenes. The articles sometimes take a lot of time and research. The poems take being creative and entertaining. And telling your story means sometimes reliving some of the worst times of your life. Thank you to Caia, our Vendor Site Representative and Emily Taylor our Director. They hustle like ants doing the rewriting and editing to make deadlines. It’s a lot of teamwork and we stick together to get it ready for the streets. The job I have with First Step Staffing, Resources for Human Development (RHD) helped me get it. And as you know, One Step Away is through RHD. RHD has programs that help people with housing, addiction, education, jobs, job readiness, and more. They are really doing a lot to help the homeless. And thank you again, because without you, I wouldn’t be where I am today!

ERIC HAMELL

40TH & MARKET STREETS VENDOR SINCE JULY 2016

Narratives by: Eric Hamell Hello to My Patrons and Readers Some of you will know my name from things I have written that appeared in previous additions of One Step Away, starting with last April’s issue. And, some may also know me by having purchasing copies of One Step Away from me in University City, as well as other parts of town before OSA’s zone system was set up. (A warm hello, especially to those who patronized me when I vended at the Weavers Way-Mt. Airy location. That was a very supportive neighborhood.) But I haven’t yet written anything addressed directly to you, and I want to correct that now. First, thanks for all of your support. It’s very much appreciated. Second, I hope that you’ve found my submissions for One Step Away interesting. A few things about myself: I read voraciously. I’m very interested in science and the philosophy of science, psychology, and understanding human history with a view to realizing a more fully human future. I’m very politically engaged. And I also read a lot of science fiction and fantasy, with an emphasis on the science fiction story as thought experiment. I inherited my political, scientific, and literary interests from my parents, who’d met through political activism but were no longer focused on it for most of my childhood. Unfortunately, the socialist group which they had been part of, and in I became involved in my adolescence (1978-1979), only gave lip service to internal democracy, and, pushed me out for being too independent-minded. I sustained some emotional injury due to its manipulative methods. I only started to understand this in 2006 after reading an academic paper about the inner workings of another, similar group. Since then I’ve been involved with the cult awareness movement. Very recently, acting on a hunch I’d had for a while, I got evaluated for autism, and was informed that I’m on the spectrum. So now I’ll be exploring how this may have affected my life up to the present, especially in terms of delaying a fulfilling career that would reflect my academic performance— and, of course, exploring how to overcome that. If you like my contributions to OSA I hope, you’ll check out what I’ve written elsewhere. I have a blog called Gondwanaland at stripey7. blogspot.com. Since Gab’s new sister site Dissenter now lets me comment on any webpage at all, I’m also using that a lot. If you’ve been frustrated by the growing number of sites that don’t have comments sections or are heavily censored, you’ll probably have a lot of fun using this!

A New Window on Myself A few months ago yesterday, in the last of three interviews at the Center for Autism, I was informed that I place on that spectrum, albeit right on the cusp. I’d suspected for some years that this might be, but also thought that those aspects of my experience that suggested it could be symptoms of something else instead, such as social anxiety disorder, with which I already had been diagnosed. But the psychologist who assessed me said I showed too many other signs that aren’t characteristic of social anxiety but are consistent with ASD. I still could (and, I think, do) have SAD, but I have this as well. But this was still a rather abstract understanding. I accepted her expertise, but didn’t feel strongly convinced -- until today. She’d informed me a conference on autism was coming up and, at her recommendation, I was offered a scholarship to attend as a “self-advocate.” So I went, and it was, almost literally, eye-opening. I refer to an epiphany near the beginning of the first session. The presenter was talking about differences in attention patterns between young children who are neurotypical and those on the autism spectrum. He then remarked on how our ability to study these things has been improved by the development of eyetracking technology. Despite this lead-in, I still wasn’t prepared for the revelation that came next. He showed a video of a woman researcher demonstrating for a child (not seen in the video) a novel way of removing a bottle from a plastic bin and then taking its cap off. The bin was one of a row of them of different colors. He repeated the video while verbally emphasizing the novel aspects of her behavior that were intended to engage the child’s interest. And now he showed the video a couple more times, but with a difference: there was also a red dot on the screen that moved around, showing where the observing child’s eyes went while the woman was demonstrating the procedure. So I got to follow the eye movements of the neurotypical child, and then those of the child on the spectrum. And so, after the unusual bottle-removingand-opening procedure itself, I had a second novel experience: the eye movements of the neurotypical child. At the start of the video the child’s eyes were grazing over the varicolored bins, until the researcher started doing something with her hands. Then his eyes shifted -- toward her face (hmm, that was unexpected!). Then to her hands, back to her face, etc., for the duration of the procedure. In the last video the ASD child likewise is initially looking at the bins, until the woman starts demonstrating the procedure. Then he starts watching her hands, and stays focused on them for the rest of the video. Same as I had done! And it would never even have occurred to me that someone else might do otherwise. The presenter then explained that this illustrated the difference between social learning — focused on looking to another person for cues about their intention — and instrumental learning — focused only on the physical action itself. These two styles had been exhibited by the neurotypical child and the ASD child, respectively, in the eye-tracking videos. And the latter also by me. There were some other revelations at the conference that were pretty striking too, but that was enough to convince me that I’d been diagnosed correctly. I expect to write more about this later.

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