TyRel Goodin is my name.  I am 40 years old.  I live on the streets here in Cleveland, Ohio, but I am fixin' to have my own place.  Just have to wait 'til the place is ready, and then I can move in.  Hopefully that will take no more'n a couple of weeks.

I have been homeless since I was nineteen, after I came back from the mjlitary.  Was in Iraq (the first skirmish), and got injured; I'm now a disabled vet.  Lost part of my leg, and walk on a pair of ratty lookin' crutches.  I still have nightmares and pain, but that's another story altogether.

Now that the weather is getting sharply colder, I find myself sleepin' in the shelter most nights (any shelter within walkin' distance); when it's warm, I sleep under the bridge abutment; same applies if the weather's nasty.  On good days, I sleep under any bridge, or at the park, until a cop chases me off.

I hate it when cops do that.  I'm not botherin' anybody; just lookin' for a place to rest my weary body.  Walkin' on a pair of crutches with a maimed leg is hard, tiring work on a body!

I tell ya, they gotta learn more in the way of sympathy or compassion ...

I hate being homeless.  People look at you all nasty, treat you shabby, treat you like dirt.  I didn't ask to be this way; it just happened.  Couldn't afford to pay my rent at the place I'd been living at, so I got bounced outta there, and I've been livin' on the streets ever since.  I am survivin', though; it's only by the grace of God that I am.

Well, a few months ago, there was word that a new halfway house was being built; I was one of the first to sign up, get my name on the list.  Well, I've been approved, so soon my history of being homeless will be a thing of the past.  It's been a huge answer to prayer!  After I get settled in, I can look for a job, and hopefully hooked up with a VA clinic, so I can get my health (and my life) back in order.

It's worth a shot, y'know??

I have made a lot of friends, among them being "Charlie-The-Crazy", who is as looney as they come, but inside, he's not a bad guy.  He's just touched in the head is all.  Maybe one day I will get him to write about himself; he is always writing, it seems!  Maybe he thinks he is William Shakespeare or Harry Thoreau or something.  I've read some of his stories and poems, and they are just about as disjointed as he is, but they're still really good!

I just thank God that there are people who care for me.  It always warms my heart when people give me a few bucks, just so I can get something in my belly, or maybe get a magazine or paper to read, so I can keep up with the current day's events.  Or there are people who say they will pray for me; I guess it's helping because soon I will have my own place: I will finally be off the streets after nineteen years!  It's been nothin' short of a miracle!

To be continued.