“Sorry, I don’t have anything interesting to say.” Trevor
I was born and raised in the Bay Area. A bit south from here, Redwood City. I’ve lived here all my life. I am fifty, turning fifty-one this week.
It was really nice to grow up in Redwood City. I worked for the City of Palo Alto, I did maintenance for Park and Recs, and the golf course. I like being outside and I like golf, too. I used to play golf a lot.
Then I traveled around. I’ve been to Europe, Asia, Canada, Mexico, Italy… All for vacation. I liked Thailand the best, just sitting on the beach, drinking margaritas. In Italy, I visited twenty-two different places, and in Canada, I met the friendliest people I know. Paris was neat, too.
“Right now, I am just in between.”
I think it’s a lot easier to be homeless in San Francisco than in any of these places. There are a lot of resources for food and stuff in the city. Yeah, I’ve been on the streets for two years. I don’t wanna tell you why. Let’s just say I had to do it for a reason.
I’ve been coming to Gubbio every day. They do things for people in need. I come to rest and give a hand. They let me sleep on the pews, and helping them gives me a little something to do.
“I need to get a place. And get my cat back.”
I will retire in four years, so then hopefully I can move somewhere else, like Hawaii. I’d go right now. I would rather go to the beach, and sit in the sun… but I need to take care of my family. My parents are old and my father might pass away. So right now, I am just in between.
I am on a list for housing, but that hasn’t turned up anything yet. I need to get a place, and get my cat black. He’s with my dad because I can’t carry him around. His name is Star. It’s a short haired black cat with a white paw, that’s why.
I know, I know, you want to know more. But I can’t, I’m tongue-tied. Sorry, I’m not good at this. I don’t think I have anything interesting to say.
Shared periodically on Medium, and soon to be published in a book, ‘Stories Behind the Fog’ is a compendium of 100 stories of people affected by homelessness in San Francisco. The project was triggered by one man’s story that will be released next year in the form of a feature-length documentary: www.mosesdoc.com
This story has been written by Arjanna Van Der Plas and Fran Guijarro, and photographed by Hashem Ainousa in collaboration with our partner organization The Gubbio Project.
