A personal story by Thomas Newman, a resident of Fifty Washington Square, Newport, Rhode Island. His work has appeared in In the Heart of the City, a literary magazine produced by the residents of Fifty Washington Square. He hopes to be a photographer

Newman, Thomas

English

University of Massachusetts Boston: ScholarWorks at UMass

New England Journal of Public PolicyVolume 8Issue 1 Special Issue on Homelessness: New Englandand BeyondArticle 373-23-1992My LifeThomas NewmanFollow this and additional works at: http://scholarworks.umb.edu/nejppPart of the Nonfiction Commons, Public Policy Commons, and the Social Policy CommonsThis Article is brought to you for free and open access by ScholarWorks at UMass Boston. It has been accepted for inclusion in New England Journal ofPublic Policy by an authorized administrator of ScholarWorks at UMass Boston. For more information, please contact library.uasc@umb.edu.Recommended CitationNewman, Thomas (1992) "My Life," New England Journal of Public Policy: Vol. 8: Iss. 1, Article 37.Available at: http://scholarworks.umb.edu/nejpp/vol8/iss1/37My LifeThomas NewmanBecoming HomelessOn April 1, 1986 I became homeless when my father's house caught fire. The first twoor three nights I stayed in my father's camper and then after that I stayed in the house.At that time I was working 3rd shift in a plastics company. About a week after the fireI bought a car from a friend at work and I lived in the car for about five months. Onthe night I bought the car I lost my job because I missed a couple of nights of workbecause I stayed in the house without electricity and I did not have a clock to wake meup at night. One of the reasons I could not get up for work was my father had me help-ing him take things out of the house during the day and take them to a storage place.When he had me helping during the day I should have been sleeping.For the five months that I lived in my car I showered at a friend's house and workedodd jobs here and there. In August a friend got me a job at a plastics company working2nd shift. When I would get off work we would go to a bar to kill time and then abouta week later I started to go to a bar to have a few beers before I went to work. Then Iwould not go to work or I would go in late. Then I ended up getting fired from thatjob. At the time I was eating once or twice a week.The Revolving DoorOn September 24, 1986 1 went to the V.A. Hospital. They admitted me about two orthree days later. Someone from the alcohol ward came to talk to me about going intothe program. I went into the program for 28 days and then they had me go to a halfway house. I stayed there for 30 days and then I left there. Went back to my car andlived there two nights. Then one night my father came by and told me I could stay athis house. That was in December, 1986.I was getting TDI checks every week. In January, 1987, 1 got a dishwasher job. Afew weeks later I got hit by a car on my way to work. I did not get hurt bad, I just got acut on my right leg with two stitches. After I left the VA Hospital, I started to drinkagain and later that night I took an overdose and ended up at the VA Hospital. I wasThomas Newman is a resident ofFifty Washington Square, Newport, Rhode Island. His work has appeared inIn the Heart of the City, a literary magazine produced by the residents ofFifty Washington Square. He hopesto be a photographer.431New England Journal ofPublic Policythere for about a week. When I got out I went to my father's house for a few days.When I went to pick up my pay check my boss told me I was fired.A few days later, I called my old boss at the plastics company and got my job back.After a week I started to get depressed again and I started to drink again. I was havingstomach pains. I went to the VA Hospital. They admitted me for tests. When I got outI went to a bar and ended up back in the VA Hospital that night. About two days laterthey had someone from the alcohol ward come to talk to me. I went through the pro-grams and they sent me back to the halfway house. I stayed there for two weeks andthen I left. For about two or three weeks I slept in the streets on a hill near the VAHospital under some trees.More Bouncing AroundOne night I had gotten drunk and ended up in the VA Hospital and they had the policetake me to the Salvation Army for the night. The next day I joined their alcohol program.After a week in the program, my back and hip started to hurt me and I asked my coun-selor for a job with no heavy lifting. He kept telling me to come to see him tomorrow.After a week of that I left there.This was at the end of August 1987. 1 went to Amos House shelter, went to work ata temporary job place. My father found where I was staying at the shelter and calledme to tell me I could stay at his house till I could save some money to get an apartment.So I went to his house the next night. After a few weeks I started to get depressedagain. I went to a bar and got drunk. When I got home I took an overdose and endedup in the Cranston Hospital.When I got out I went back to my father's house. That night my aunt called me andasked if I could stay at her house for a few weeks and I told her that I could. So myfather took me to her house that night. A few days later a friend of mine told me thatwhere he was working they needed help. I got a job that started the next day, inDecember, 1987.I got laid off. I got drunk a week later and stayed in a hotel for a night. When I wentback to my aunt's house she told me after New Year's I would have to leave. I went toa shelter and was working at the labor pool. After work each day I would go out to abar and get drunk. One night I left the bar too late to get into the shelter so a friend ofmine brought me to the emergency shelter.The Beginning ofHopeThe next day I went to Amos House shelter and stayed there that night. The next day Iwent to the emergency shelter because they were staying open 24 hours a day for theweekend. I was going to go back to Amos House that night but I met a young lady witha 4 year old girl and a 2 year old boy. The boy was sick so I stayed to help her with thekids. That Thursday, welfare put them in a hotel for a week. The next day her and herbrother came to get me and I stayed at the hotel with them.There was me, her, the two kids, her brother, her mother, and her mother's husbandstaying there. After the week was up we went back to the emergency shelter.We were together for almost one month and I fell in love with her and her two kids.After four days in the emergency shelter they went to Massachusetts. When they saidgoodbye to me at the bus station I knew I wouldn't see her again. After a few days,432between the depression and her leaving, I started to drink again. I got to a point whereI did not care if I lived or died. In fact, I wanted to die at first.Then in April, when I got $500 from income taxes. I went drinking till I had no moneyleft. On April 24, 1988, 1 went to the Benjamin Rush Detox Center for a week. When Igot out I went to the Travelers Aid and they put me up at the Salvation Army. They paidfor two or three nights. I got a job, started to work, and I stayed at the Salvation Armytill I got my first pay check. Then Traveller's Aid got me a room at the Providence YMCA.For 9 months I stayed sober. My back and hip started to bother me and aroundChristmas I went into a deep depression and I quit my job. On December 28, 1988 Iwent to the VA Hospital to try and get treated for the depression but they treated mefor alcohol and sent me to another halfway house. I stayed for a week.Another Downward CycleI went to the Welcome Arnold Shelter January, 1989. 1 met another girl. She was 30years old and had a daughter and a son. I helped her for a while and Traveler's Aid gother into a women's shelter and a few days later I got an apartment. I was going throughdifferent mood swings and on April 3, 1989, 1 was depressed and got kicked out of theapartment. Rather than to end up in a shelter again I took another overdose and almostdied on April 4, 1989. 1 woke up out of a coma at about 1 p.m. I was in R.I. Hospital.Two days later they sent me to the VA Hospital. After a week in the hospital all theywanted was to treat me for alcohol so I left the locked ward I was on and went down-town, went to a bar. About three or four hours later the VA had the Providence Policebring me back to the VA Hospital. After that, the VA treated me for the depression.They put me on an antidepressant and a week later let me out of the hospital. I wasout on the streets again and had no place to go.I went into a panic and took another overdose and ended up in the VA Hospital.While I was in the VA I called Traveller's Aid and found out that I could get a roomback in the Providence YMCA. After three weeks living in the YMCA, I moved out ofthere and went to the shelter to try to save some money for an apartment that did notcost so much money.Coming TogetherI was going to the "Housing Now" meetings and rallies and I met someone from New-port. He told me about the old YMCA. In August, 1989, 1 applied for a room and onSeptember 22, 1989, 1 moved to Newport and stayed in the shelter. On October 6,1989, 1 went to Washington, D.C., for the "Housing Now" march.On November 20, 1 got a room in the old NavyYMCA and got a case manager atthe Newport Mental Health Center to get treated for my depression. But I kept get-ting drunk and my alcohol counselor and my case manager wanted me to go into ahalfway house. But I did not want to go to one, so I told my case manager that I had aweek's sobriety and to give me three more weeks to stay sober, and that if I did pick upa drink I would [go] to Benjamin Rush Detox. And in February, 1990, 1 went to Wash-ington, D.C., for a three night sleep out for the Right to Housing, trying to get theSenate and Congress to pass a bill so that more affordable housing can be built.I came back to Newport February 14. That Saturday I was depressed. When I wokeup I started to drink, got suicidal and the police took me to Newport Hospital. I stayed433New England Journal ofPublic Policythere for about fifteen minutes and went back home, locked myself in my room for threedays. When I saw my case manager on that Tuesday she asked me if I remembered thepromises I made her and I said I did and told her that I would go to the Benjamin RushDetox Center. I was there for eight days and started Antabuse to help me stay sober. Igot thirty days' sobriety. And then I got started on an antidepressant.I am going toAA meetings and I have a different outlook on life and about myself,thanks [to] my case manager caring about me and making me see that I am not worth-less and that I have something to live for. And now I plan to take a course from the NewYork Institute of Photography and sometime in the future I hope to be a photographer.Why I Wrote This StoryThe main reason I wrote this is to let people know the people who are homeless are notalcoholics, druggies, that anybody can become a homeless person and that there are fami-lies out there without a home. There are women and children who are homeless andmaybe someday that bill will get passed and then there won't be a need for shelters. **>434

My Life

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