Angelo Anderson:  A Man Back On Track
by Connie Davis

“I wanted just to let the guys know that it’s not easy, you know, to start over again, once you’ve been homeless.  It takes time to get it together.  It took me a couple of tries,” Angelo Anderson says, wiping his hands across his apron and flashing a warm smile.  He has come a long way to get to where he is right now, from a life on the streets to a part-time job at Pita Palace and a place to live.

And none of it has been easy.  “It’s not so much expected that you might fail the first couple of times, but it’s pretty much the norm,” Anderson says.  “I say perhaps 93 percent of the people who try don’t succeed the first time.”

It’s hard to imagine the pressures faced by those living on the streets.  “You’re fighting addiction, you might be fighting alcoholism, you might have a mental disorder.  Sometimes, starting over—whether you believe it or not— is an extra, added pressure and basically you just got to hang in there,” claims Anderson, offering realistic words of encouragement to all his friends out there who are fighting their way back, too.

Anderson stresses the importance of family support.  “Once you do reach a certain level, I think the most important thing is that your family realizes that you’ve reached it, and that they will be there for you, you know, to help you continue.”  He has earned the support of his family.  In fact, he’s going to be moving into the attic of his mother’s house soon, which he’ll share with his brother.  With his mom and his sisters downstairs, Anderson is really looking forward to having his family around again for company, support, and love.  “I’ve reached that point, thank God, where I’m ready now, you know, to go back to the family and stay with my mother again, and that’s another notch up.”

As well as his part-time job at Pita Palace, Anderson works at a parking lot and sells the Grapevine.  “It pays the rent, gets the groceries done and basically keeps my day pretty full, and that’s the main thing, you know, to have something to do, something constructive, and try not to go around that crowd that would influence you to do the things that you were doing that kept you down.”

Anderson has some advice for others fighting to get themselves back on track.  “Take one day at time, say a prayer, and hope for the best.”

This article appeared in Issue #5