Despite Help from Community, Homeless Couple Heads Back Onto Streets Sunday

It’s been a month since Lori Cruz walked into the McDonald’s on Bryant Blvd. and started a Facebook post that spurred an outpouring of support for a local homeless couple.

Within minutes of the post on the San Angelo Swap and Sell Faceook group, dozens of comments that quickly turned to hundreds began to appear below her words, some asking what they could do to help, while another man was en-route to book a motel room.

The couple, who had been living on the streets and sleeping under the bridge for the better part of a year, were moved to tears as they spoke of the “blessings” the community had bestowed on them.  On Nov. 14, the couple moved to El Patio Motel, where a woman with her own experiences with homelessness had booked them a room for a month. The rent is up on Sunday, Dec. 14 at noon, and neither can afford to extend the stay.

“We’ve been here three weeks now, and we’ve been blessed a lot,” Cassie said. “We got more clothes, groceries, and we’re doing real good.”

Cassie, 46, and Nick, 42, said a lot has changed over the course of the past month. Almost immediately after finding out they’d be off the streets for a while, Nick phoned his younger brother, who has been visiting the couple over the past few weeks.

Nick has diabetes and has difficulty walking due to a damaged foot. He hasn’t taken any diabetes medication whatsoever in a year, and supposes the foot may be a complication related to it. His brother, he said, has visited him often over the past three weeks and has been helping him a great deal by driving him to appointments with indigent care and the social security office.

“He said it shouldn’t be long [until he has indigent care],” Cassie explained. “Hopefully, just a few weeks. Hopefully, indigent will help him go to the doctor, you know, about his foot, you know, help him with his diabetes medicine.”

When the two checked in at El Patio, Cassie had the promise of a job as a Salvation Army bell ringer and Nick had been offered a dishwashing job he said he’d wished he could find. As it were neither of these jobs would pan out, both due to legal issues and due to a lack of ambition.

“After we got here I was supposed to start bell ringing, but I was having trouble with my ID and my social security,” Cassie explained. “They have two different last names. It’s been hard for me to change that because I have to have two different forms of ID.”

Cassie’s ID has her married name printed on it, but her social security card still reflects her maiden name. She said the variation in the names caused her to lose her job with the Salvation Army, but she’s been putting in applications for housekeeping positions since.

“Without an address it would be really hard for me to get a new ID,” she said. “I’d rather change my social security, but [it’s] a little bit harder, you know, with two forms of ID. They need a marriage license…If I was able—I don’t know what it would cost to get that—but I would need that and another form of ID.”

Cassie estimated she called the social security office the week of Dec. 1-6, but hadn’t asked where she would obtain a copy of her marriage license. Since she didn’t know where it was and assumed it cost money, she hadn’t inquired further.

“I don’t know,” she replied when asked if she’d attempted to obtain a copy of her marriage license. “It costs, I think, doesn’t it? Just have the money to get that one and I think I need one more [document].”

Cassie was married in Tom Green County, but her husband died eight or nine years ago. She said she believes they were still married at that time, but would like to have her documentation under his last name.

Even if she had the marriage license, however, Cassie was concerned she still may not receive the card.

“I don’t know if they mail it or you get it right there,” she said. “For that reason, it’s been hard for me to find work. So that’s the reason I wasn’t able to bell ring.”

For his part, Nick has visited the social security office with his brother and applied for disability. He said the representative told him it could take up to three months before the paperwork was processed, and he won’t know until then if he will receive the benefits.

Without any source of income and only that which was left from those who helped them, the couple said they have had to fend for themselves the past couple of weeks, and suspect the decreased flow of support may have something to do with a woman they met on their first day at El Patio.

“She was going to help us right then, right, to pay for longer,” Cassie said. “…a few days or a week later I spoke to her on the phone and she was very cross with me and she talked to me real hateful. She said a lady that had helped us had talked to her–I don’t know what that lady told her, but she was real hateful to me on the phone and said that she wasn’t going to help us at all. Not even a dollar…”

Neither Nick nor Cassie knew what the woman had been told, and said they have no idea what it could have been. Since then, they haven’t spoken to her at all, and said they have noticed a drop in support since the encounter with the woman.

“We’re just getting along the best we can, you know. We got blessings the first week; the last two weeks, don’t really have much. We’ve kind of been on our own,” Cassie said. “But we appreciate everything we got, you know. We got so many things the first week in Motel 6. It helped us a lot, you know, clothes, shoes, groceries. We appreciate everything that people have done because it’s helped us a lot.”

Motioning to the corner, Cassie points out Nick’s pride and joy: a shiny silver and blue bicycle a woman brought by after hearing his story. He’s had a couple of bikes stolen in the past and really needs it to get around due to his foot, he explained.

Although Christians in Action have come through with bus passes for the two through Dec. 18, the bike is something Nick will be able to use regardless of what the future brings.  

When they were living under the bridge, Nick and Cassie said that their days were long and consisted of a lot of walking. First, they’d wake up under the bridge and go to McDonald’s. Next, they’d walk to the library—or a park in the summer—and sit and read, then walk down to the soup kitchen for lunch, back to McDonald’s and finally to the bridge.

Nick would frequently have to stop along the way and take a break because his foot was giving him trouble, however knowing he would be faced once again that reality, he decided not to follow up on a cash-paid job offer that followed the first LIVE! article.

The dishwasher job came up on Nov. 15, when a local restaurateur read the homeless couple’s story and decided she wanted to help. Although they had immediately been given all of the contact information, the restaurant owner relayed that she had not heard a word from Nick or Cassie.

“I never got back with her,” Nick said when asked about the dishwashing job.

“He told his brother that the reason that he didn’t go was because he doesn’t think they will hire him because of his foot,” Cassie interjected. “He doesn’t think he can stand that long.”

When pressed on the issue and reminding him of all the walking the two said they’d done when they lived under the bridge, Nick said, “I guess I didn’t go to try it out or something. It was too far to ride or something like that.”

Nick was sketchy as to whether or not he is currently interested in looking for employment, vaguely mentioning disability and then returning to the job prospect.

“I could probably do something in that time period,” he said. “I don’t mind working, it’s just that I don’t want to stand for so long, then I have to maybe take a break or something like that.” He estimates he can stand about 20 minutes or so before needing to pause.

Despite their current job prospects, the couple remains hopeful and say they would like to be able to stabilize themselves financially. Noting the necessity of a phone for job interview calls and the impact one’s ability to shower can have on finding employment, Nick and Cassie fear they will be back at square one if they have to vacate their room on Sunday.

“Before we were out there without a phone or contact or anything,” Cassie said. “It’s even harder to find a job, being on the streets.”

Within the next three to six months, Cassie hopes to have her social security card changed and to have taken on a job so that she can get back on her feet again financially. Nick said he would like to get his paperwork completed for indigent care and possibly take on a side job.

“Maybe like a cleaning job or something,” he suggested. “Maybe like a carwash job or something like that. Something that’s more comfortable for me.”

Both agree that if they had the help, they could make more progress toward stabilizing their lives.

“I think it would be a little bit better,” she said. “At least one more month. Get my card changed, start working…it would be a little bit better. Maybe get at least one paycheck to get on our own financially.”