Chuck Leaves Alcohol and Violence Behind

“Chuck” was one of the greatest challenges to the Street Outreach staff. His parents were neglectful when he was growing up, and he was on the streets by the time he was 16. He lived in abandoned buildings and spent his days loitering in city parks. Occasionally a friend would invite him to spend a night or two. He survived by eating out of dumpsters. Chuck became a dumpster connoisseur, he knew where to find the freshest and tastiest of discarded food.

He worked as a day laborer to earn enough money to get and stay drunk for as long as possible. He showered occasionally at the Drop-In Center and got new clothes from Street Outreach, whose workers double bagged his used clothes in the trash.

Chuck liked to fight and he carried a heavy chain to protect himself. He had once been a gang member and his street name was acquired from his habit of carving permanent marks on his victims. He was unusually adept at survival on the streets, and he did not want structure.

It was difficult for Street Outreach workers to convince Chuck that he could have a different kind of life than the one that he was living. After years of listening, and because he was becoming weary of his hard life, he began to come around. He decided that his best chance for making life changes would be to move away from the bad influences and distractions of his old friends. He settled on a small town more than an hour’s drive from the city. He has now been there for 18 months. He has a steady girlfriend, a home and a job.