The truth is that I’ve been struggling in the Orlando housing market for years, since just before the pandemic. I’m not unusual. I’m surrounded by veterans who haven’t been able to find a permanent fix for this nightmare. But I was fortunate enough to have good people in my life who lifted me up when things got bad. I’m eternally grateful for them. Then I thought, “What better way to pay it forward to than to fight homelessness myself?”. I would lobby local, state, and federal officials and be an effective force in helping to keep families and fellow veterans off the street. I failed. And once ..read more

I’m a god fearing man. Many homeless veterans are. But when you’re a veteran and you lose everything, your faith is tested like it’s never been before. This is because of the mental beating your soul takes everyday you’re lost in the community with no home to go to, and every night when you’re never truly sleeping peacefully. We’re taught to believe in the goodness of God, but when the community has rejected you and you have nothing, the reminders of goodness have left you. And you feel abandoned. While I’m not in church every Sunday, I’m there for many of them. I read the word. I close my eye ..read more

When you’ve lost everything and someone asks you “How are you doing?” there is pinch that you may feel. At least I know I feel the pinch. Etiquette calls for you to say “Oh, I’m fine”. You may have been raised to not unload your problems on someone you may be meeting for the first time. But when you’re down and you need help, you have to tell the truth and introduce that tough subject matter into the conversation. Because you’re not fine. Being homeless can destroy you. “I feel pretty bad. I understand why I’ve lost everything but I still wasn’t smart enough to prevent it. I feel broken.” is w ..read more

If you’ve been keeping up with this blog recently, you know that I’m once again struggling in the Orlando housing crisis with nowhere to go. It’s a waking nightmare that I wish would just end. But I have a question? Have you ever wondered what you would if you lost everything and became homeless? It’s a life changing tragedy that can change who you are. You’re confidence never fully recovers from losing the game of life. But everyone should close their eyes and think about it. They need to wonder what they would do if the economy of their hometown turned against them in the worst way possible ..read more

When you’re trying to fight off homelessness in Orlando, it doesn’t even feel like you’re in the same town. Sadly, this isn’t the first time I’ve struggled during this housing crisis, and the environment for recovery here is so hostile that I’ve never felt further away from the community I grew up in, even though I’m a short drive away from the old neighborhood. This experience is something like climbing out of a dark pit. There aren’t any handles to grip on to and this pit is in the middle of nowhere. It doesn’t matter how loud you shout because no one will hear you. And there are thousands o ..read more

An infuriating report out of Aurora, Colorado on Monday morning, confirmed that the prosthetics chief of that Department of Veterans Affairs facility canceled 1000 orders leaving veterans without help. (story HERE). This is why we need more eyeballs on the VA and not less. I’ve said many times that most of the frontline staff at the VA are pretty good. The biggest obstacle to our fellow brothers and sisters is actually getting in the room to get care. Most of the VAs severe problems are due to poor leadership at the higher levels. That’s how this terrible act was allowed to occur. The discover ..read more

When you’re looking at your finances and you realize that you’re going to lose everything, there is a physical pain you feel. I imagine its what it would feel like if someone took a frozen piece of ice and stabbed you in the chest with it. I’ve felt it twice in the last three years. The pain tries to force you to breakdown and sometimes it succeeds. It wakes you up in the middle of the night with the same kind of terror you would experience if there was an intruder in your house. You may find yourself enjoying an article or laughing at a joke but poverty comes in with a fire extiguisher and el ..read more

Right now, I’m without a home in Orlando. I’ve been in this town since early childhood, and I offer a painful perspective that I can share with you with the hope you’ll never have to experience it one day. I’ve succeeded in the City Beautiful in the past. And now sadly, I’ve failed. It’s two completely different realities. When I was successful, I was among not only the city’s leaders but Florida’s leaders as well. Orlando when you’re succeeding can be heaven. We’ve got palatial resorts. The food is wonderful. Driving down the interstates here on most afternoons can be picturesque. And the wee ..read more

You can fight. Take every second of your waking existence trying to prevent yourself from becoming homeless in Orlando. But the process will stop the clock for you. Every Friday at 5pm. Such is my case in this Orlando housing crisis trying to find some way to pull myself up. It’s Saturday. All of the offices are closed. Of course they’ll be closed tomorrow too. And heaven help you if there is a national holiday on Monday. That’s three nights on the street or in the shelter. You can rattle away online if you have access. But those wheels won’t move until Monday either. You can try to knockout a ..read more

A popular question during interviews and conversations that you hear on television and read online is “What advice would you give your younger self?”. As I prepare to hit week three here in the Orlando homeless community, I actually wish my younger selves would give advice to me. This is the second time I’ve hit rock bottom. I’ve fallen so far from where I was in my 20s and 30s. In my 20s I was a promising soldier in the United States Army. It was my great honor and I wish I never got out. My peers in my last unit thought I was a “lifer” for sure. The reason I got out was because I had joined ..read more