I grew up with a mother and a father in Southwest Philadelphia. They both dead now. I became a drug addict. I started smoking crack cocaine when I was 19. My addiction took me to another part of life, like dereliction and stuff like that. I was sleeping down in Center City. I was 17. Jani Blackwell, she used to come down and feed us every Sunday. I slept in Love Park, lived on 1801 Vine. We used to call ourselves racketeers. For a long time I thought it was like okay, not being responsible, sleeping on the streets, no responsibilities, no bills, no rules, nobody telling me to come in at a certain time. There were shelters around then too. But like a lot of us chose to stay out in the streets because of the rules and things they want to put you through. I slept out there 8 years, but then I started to get like a little sense. When I say 8 years, I slept on the street for 8 years. That’s a long time. I rather would not go into a shelter. It was very crazy. I ain’t saying the shelter was bad, but it was a shelter. That’s exactly what it was. So I went in. I was 26 then.
I dropped out of John Bartram High School in 11th grade. I got my GED. In ’96, I was 29. I was incarcerated, drugs, catch me with drugs. I didn’t have money for a lawyer. I had like so many cases, like 17. They consolidated into 3 drug cases and gave me 11 to 23 months. So that’s where my life started getting better. I left jail in ’97 and I went to Gaudenzia House, and that’s what made me. I seen the people working there and I seen the empathy they had for people. I have empathy people because I can relate because I was there for a very long time. I used to work at Gaudenzia, too. I want to help people. That’s what I want to do. I’ve been there. I understand. I know the rigmarole.

The one I just came out on was a simple assault. Basically it was an argument and nobody got touched. I had a knife. When you ain’t got the money to fight the case… I ain’t going to talk about the system, but I had a choice. I always had a choice.

Today I’m grateful. My recovery is everything to me. Staying clean must come first no matter what. I’m just standing by my plan. I’m back in school. I’m working 2 jobs. Just dealing one day at a time like, every second of the time. . The JOBS Project gave me some tools, gave me a little stability. They supplied me with transportation getting back and forth to the job. It was good jobs. Today, I have 2 jobs. I work at a restaurant. I also deliver newspapers. It’s like a circular thing for Donnelly.