Community Corner

"I Have No Job, No Money, No Income"

350 attend the Southeastern Connecticut Partnership to End Homelessness' annual Project Homeless Connect

The Southeastern Connecticut Partnership to End Homelessness conducted its sixth annual Project Homeless Connect at in Montville on Friday. More than 350 homeless people and those at risk of becoming homeless attended.

The event offers assistance with housing applications, mental health and addiction services, legal services, employment counseling, free haircuts, food and clothing vouchers, free clothing, and eye, hearing, dental, stroke, and blood pressure screenings, among other things.

Following are some of the stories as told by seven homeless or near-homeless people who attended.

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William Ruhmshottelm expects to be homeless at the end of this month when he is forced to leave his New London apartment.

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 “I had a job and I was laid off,” the 58-year-old said. “Now I have no job, no money, no income.”

He said he was employed at Target but now can’t find employment, despite an intense job search. He said employers seem to be looking for younger workers. Connecticut's unemployment rate for September was 8.9 percent.

As for his living arrangements, his residence at the apartment will end because the building has changed hands and the new owner has other plans for it.

With homelessness staring him in the face, he isn’t optimistic about finding a job. “I don’t see things getting any better,” he said. “If anything, they’re going to get worse.”

 

For Gordon Byers, it’s come down to living in his car in a relative’s driveway. “It’s going to be getting cold pretty soon, and it’s going to be tough out there,” he said.

He calls New London his home although he really has no home. He said he was laid off from a job at Home Depot and can’t find employment despite being a graduate and the recipient of an associate’s degree from Three Rivers Community College. His search for work is complicated by the fact that he has physical problems that don’t allow him to stand for long periods of time.

Beyers, 37, had been living with a girlfriend, but the relationship turned sour.

“It got so bad that I’d rather live in a car than with her,” he said.

He said he receives $160 a week in unemployment compensation.

 

Mitchell Erwin really hasn’t worked his entire life. It’s not that he doesn’t want to; it’s just that he suffers from mental illness and is unable to function at that high a level.

He was raised in New London and also has resided in Norwich and Florida. In Florida, he said, he sometimes pitched a tent in the woods and also lived in front of a business with an overhang by the front door.

All told, between Connecticut and Florida, he said he lived on the streets for eight years.

Now, things are better. He has connected with Reliance House, the Norwich-based agency that offers support for the mentally ill. He receives state and federal aid and lives in a rooming house that costs $600 a month. Reliance House employees bring him his medications every day.

Despite his problems, Erwin hopes he some day will be able to hold a job. “I think that maybe with the right medications I’ll be able to do it,” he said.

 

Brenda Meary’s problems started when she split with her husband when their daughter was 10 years old. She said she tried to work and care for her daughter, but found it difficult to do both.

Now 52, her daughter is grown but the mother has no transportation and can’t land a job.  

Over the years, Meary has slept outside on many locations. “In stairwells, places like that,” she said.

For now, the woman who was born and raised in New London is living with friends.

She knows that if she is to get her own housing she needs to find a job. And, she said, she has tried valiantly to get one. “’But it seems that everyone wants to hire the young people,” she said.

 

Kim and George Anderson, living in a Groton motel, are seeking stability in their lives and for their two children, ages 9 and 15.

 “What I want is to keep my kids out of the street,” Kim said. “We want to give them an opportunity for a good life.”

Kim and George, who both are about 50 years old, are unemployed. They came here several months ago from South Carolina. “We couldn’t find much (work) down there,” she said. Then, she added, the couple lost much of their savings to a disreputable moving company. Now they’re paying $350 a week to stay in the motel. They said they can’t find an apartment because previous landlords refused to give them positive references.

Of the $350 weekly rent, she says, “It just sucks your money off.”

For  this couple, there may be a happy ending. George said he expects to start a job at Spicer Fuel in Groton in November.

 

Greg Frazier, a 44-year-old from New London, noted that there isn’t much demand for landscaping services this time of year. And landscaping and carpentry are the things he does best.

So now he is out of work and has very little money coming in – just the small amounts he gets for doing odd jobs.

He has no home. He collects food stamps and spends his nights sleeping on the couches of friends.

“I’m trying to stay optimistic but you look out there and what you see scares you,” he said.

Frazier was raised in New London and Groton and is a graduate of Fitch Senior High School.

He has a 22-year-old son who also is out of work.

“Back when I was 22, getting a job was no problem at all. It seems that all you had to apply. It isn’t like that anymore.”

 

Junior Souvenance, 24, calls the shelter on Federal Street in New London his home.

He said his life started in New York City, but living with his parents turned out to be a bad experience. He also has lived with a foster family

His travels took him from York City, to Bridgeport and finally New London. His only job, he said, was five months at a McDonald’s restaurant.

Today, he said, he has 16 job applications (including at Wal-Mart and Home Depot) pending and he is hoping for a break.

 “You know,” he said, “there just aren’t many jobs out there.”


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