Trucker
Looks for Wheels While an Elevator Mechanic
Looks to Move Up
Bob Boc
I was born in Granada, Mississippi, in 1951.
I moved to Cleveland in 1960. I
completed the twelfth grade through GED. My
occupation is a tractor-trailer driver. I
was married, had children and now have grandchildren.
I was divorced after 20 years of marriage.
I‘ve lived what’s considered to be a normal, decent life.
You know: job, family, community involvement. For many years, things were good. Then, things began to change.
My marriage started going bad, and my job moved out of state.
I began drinking more and started doing drugs. Divorce occurred, and my children left. I really began not to care.
I lost my respect, self-esteem, and whatever else you can lose when
you’re failing. Anyway, I became
homeless and for a while I wallowed in my sorrow and pity. There were times when I asked for food, and what was said to
me was,” Get a job you damn bum!” More
often than not, we are treated as the worst.
Further down the road, I met people who cared and were
concerned. It gave hope and a desire to help myself.
Don’t get me wrong—it’s not easy coming up and I’m not out of
this yet. But at least now I’m
giving myself the chance.
Before I end this article, I would like to thank NEOCH and its staff for what I call CURE: caring, understanding, respect, and encouragement. Thank you NEOCH, and may God bless you.
Andre Brennan
I was born March 23, 1952, in Orlando, Florida.
The eldest of five children, I was called upon to take charge of
the family.
That kind of start in life helped me to be very headstrong and
positive and to know what I wanted to do in life—to be very successful.
When I graduated from high school, I immediately went to junior college
in Miami for two years. I took up
commercial arts. I left school to
marry my childhood sweetheart. I
decided not go back to school. I
had to get a job to support my wife and unborn daughter.
I began driving trucks, but since I had to leave my family for days at a
time, I left that job to drive locally for Coca-Cola.
After seven years or so, my wife and I went different ways.
I re-married two years later and got a transfer to Houston, Texas--at a
Coca-Cola Bottling Company where I was a route salesman for two years.
I was very successful, but I felt like I needed a new
challenge.
I decided to go to elevator school for two years.
After completing school, I worked for Dover Elevator Company for seven
years. I was laid off, and my
family and I moved back to Florida. I immediately went to work for USA Elevator.
After seven years, (I guess the number seven is unlucky for me) my second
wife and I got a divorce. We had
two young boys.
For the next five years, I moved from state to
state—Georgia, New Jersey, and New York, Pennsylvania—and ended up here.
Presently, I’m in need of $600 back union dues, $500 worth
of tools and transportation. I’m
a certified elevator mechanic and will go anywhere in the United States.
I chose to live in Florida. Right
now I’m homeless and down on my luck. But
I have a good spirit and high hopes. I
don’t plan to be down long.
I just wanted to give a little insight about what a homeless person is like. The public, well, a lot of them have a false conception about what it’s like to be homeless.