Blog: Housing the Homeless to Save their Lives

Train accidents near the downtown may not always be accidents.

Especially those near the and the snake benches frequented more by homeless drinkers than passengers waiting for the Amtrak. I say this because the idea of ending it all by taking one’s own life -- of suicide by train -- can catch you off guard.

I am thinking not so much of “Santa” Dan Furgeson, whose death we want to assume was an accident a .

I am thinking of Jesse, a young man who died in a similar fashion, some 5 years ago.

Jesse Newberry was usually spray-painted and nattily dressed. But one time, a couple of weeks before the end of his life, I saw him so neatly dressed in blue shirt, tan tie, dark pants and shined shoes, I did not recognize him.

It was a little unsettling to see this positive, "mainstream" image of him. He looked good by anyone's standards. Certainly would have had no trouble sitting for an interview of some kind.

Frankly, the guy struck me as two cans short of a six-pack early on, but when he or anyone approaches me for one of my Marlboros as he often did, or for a stack of 25 The Spare Changer papers to distribute in exchange for donations, I am compassionate and I comply.

Often he would light up with me at The Resource Center, in front of E Street Cafe Roma (now ) or The Plaza across the street, next to 31 Flavors.

He’d talk, and I’d try to make heads or tails of what he was intending to say.

Over time, I came to believe that this was a man with demons, and he was fighting them. Demons we all have to contend with from time to time.

But we should not have to face them to the point that we decide death is better than life.

I remember the first time I gave Jesse 25 copies of The Spare Changer. I really didn’t think he would return the $1.25 per issue that is requested in order to defray the costs of production. I didn’t think he could "stay in the here and now" long enough to “sell” them.

I was wrong on both counts.

First time he went out in front of the restaurant, he sold out in less than three hours. He had his retro-donations separated from the monies he could keep; his own $1.25 for the $2.50 requested donation, plus tips, when I came bicycling back by to check on him.

Another time "something happened" and he lost or ruined 25 copies, and he disappeared for a few days.

When he returned, he told me about the mishap in his own inimitable way, paid me ten dollars, and promised to pay the balance when he got his check “on the first.”

Well, I was so pleased that I told him not to worry about the balance. It was “all good.” And it really was.

His honesty, of all things, is what stands out in my mind now that he is gone. And his sincerity. And his homelessness.

I believe this apparent suicide-by-train might not have occurred had this mentally and emotionally challenged young man been housed in some kind of affordable supportive housing.

When I think about it now, it seems to me that whatever demon urged him to investigate the mystery of death, whatever devil made him do it, would have been helpless had he been removed from the train tracks entirely.

He wouldn’t have been near a train at that moment if he had been housed, right?

At times of extreme depression (or exhilaration from a feeling of invincibility!), how likely am I to blow my brains out if I have no gun?

As a community, we must take responsibility for this kind of tragic ending to the young life of one of our members.

This is Part 1 in a two-part series. The second will be on the site Friday.  

Something to think about: Jesse is yet another one of our un-sheltered poor who has died lost. He is another reason I personally support sustainable and “truly affordable housing" for all, particularly those with mental or emotional impairments. We must work on getting them "treated." What say you? For more info visit The Spare Changer at the Farmer's Market and thesparechanger.net. Mention Davis Patch for local bonuses.