Please note that this article is not written by me, however is published to this site with the authors consent. All comments will be directly forwarded to the author.
Charles was born and raised in Grand Junction, CO.
His saddest moment occurred when his mother died roughly two years ago. His happiest memory is of his daughter, who lives on a reservation in South Dakota. "She was the happiest baby," he says about his daughter, who is now an adult.
I met Charles outside of my workplace, standing on the sidewalk with his sign. Someone had run him off from the corner of the street, accusing him of "chopping." Chopping apparently means overtaking another homeless person's regular corner of "business." Charles does not, or cannot, stay in the shelter due to an anti-social disorder. Therefore, he camps along the canal where it is slightly wooded.
Charles has spent time in prison for a number of different reasons: burglary and attempted murder at age 19, drug charges in his mid 20s, and more recently received 12 years in prison for assault.
To be honest, I was a little taken aback by these charges, and seeing my apprehension, he quickly explained. He was trying to conduct a "strongarm" burglary, which means that no weapons are used in the process, only intimidation. The store clerk whacked him in the head with a baseball bat, however, and because he had to defend himself, he picked up a nearby bottle and smacked the store clerk in the face, hence the attempted murder charge. With pleading in his eyes, Charles made it clear that he never wanted to hurt anyone, and that he was not a violent person by nature. Sometimes it is necessary in this world.
Charles had been in the U.S. military, stationed in Germany, which resulted in many health problems. Some of these include slipped discs in his spine, and old gunshot wounds in his hand, side, and hip. He can go to the VA hospital for his medication and treatment, but fears that back surgery may render him incapable of walking again. He cannot receive disability payments due to his lack of a physical address. He is more than willing to work to earn money, though, and claims that washing dishes is fine with him. "Anything close, I can't walk too far," he says. However, most people don't want to hire an ex-convict.
Charles was staying with a woman named Mary Jo January, aka "Jojo," who resides on 27 ½ and D Rd here in GJ. During this time, he had gone to Denver to help some friends of his, thinking "how nice to have a roof." When he came back, however, she had kept his things and told him he couldn't come back, and that if he did she would call the police. Charles hasn't been out of prison long enough and the threat of returning there has made him very leery, and thus did not press the issue with Jojo. He had heard of her notorious reputation of taking in the homeless and then ejecting them while keeping their belongings, but disregarded it as a possible rumor, mostly considering that he needed shelter during the harsh winter months. As a solution to his current state of having no home, he is trying to save $500 for a camper. A friend of his says that he can park it on his lot for free. Charles states that the camper would be "just something to cover my head."
While speaking with Charles, he came up with a great idea. He proposed that I set up a PayPal account for donations of which I could then distribute to the homeless. That sounds great, but I'm sure there are some kind of laws I would be breaking without a proper license to receive donations. It sure would save my wallet from being so empty...hahaha...we'll see...it is a fantastic idea.
All Comments Welcome
Edited by Kristin N.
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