Hello, everyone. My name is Eugene Sanford and I am the secretary, assistant director and office manager for the People for Fairness Coalition. I have been with this group of homeless advocates since I first discovered it at Miriam’s Kitchen a decade ago.
So how did I get into this line of work and how did I become homeless? I am an only child, born in the Washington, D.C., metropolitan area (Cheverly, Maryland). I also have cousins, aunts and uncles in the Carolinas.
This all goes way back to 2002, when I was holding a dishwasher job at Friendly’s Restaurant. I was checking the schedule to see when I would work again and noticed that I was only on the schedule for one day. I went to three different people about this issue. No one would talk to me.
When I finally went to the general manager, he said he was tired of me having issues and suggested that I find another place to work. After some heated words, he asked me to leave, in a threatening manner.
I went home and told my landlord about the situation and started packing my things. I sold my TV/VCR for $75 and paid for a moving van. First, I stayed in a hotel, then with some friends. This went on for almost a year.
The following year, 2004, this situation resurfaced with a former “employer” of mine from another organization. I was living with her for two months and was asked to move along because she was so money-hungry. I left, but had the help of a good friend from high school to store a lot of my things in an unused garage. I later went into a shelter program and got settled in for the whole winter until 2005.
That year became a little busy for me, as I got a call from Outback Steakhouse. I got to go to their orientation program and got a job as a busser. Then I moved up to dishwasher for more hours. I wasn’t making much money, so a lot of it went towards sustaining myself: staying with friends, in and out of hotels, keeping myself healthy, and still working. But things continued to get rough for me.
The next thing I did, in 2007, was migrate from Hyattsville, Maryland, to Washington, D.C. That’s when things slowly started to change for me. I was getting breakfast from the First Helping truck on 9th and E streets NW, across from the Department of the Interior. One of the outreach workers told me about Miriam’s Kitchen, which wasn’t too far away. So, I took the bus over there and was astounded at what I saw.
There were two or three dozen people in this massive dining room where I got something to eat. The first person I remember meeting was Ashley Lawson, who at the time ran the dining room early in the mornings. We talked almost every day before breakfast, and I turned towards getting my own life in order. By then it was 2008, when we were all going through rough times during the recession. I am proud to say that neither drugs nor alcohol were ever used or abused during this emotionally gut-wrenching period of my life.
The next person I remember working with was Amanda Moss (now Manning), who asked me to do a housing survey before working with me on getting the resources I needed. She helped me to get a new ID, food stamp card, police clearance, and a place to stay at St. Paul Lutheran Church’s Shelter. Every Tuesday I would meet with Amanda between 30 minutes and an hour, until she moved on to marriage and family.
Then came the People for Fairness Coalition, where I am currently one of many longstanding members in the group. I have also been working at Safeway now for more than eight years, and I got a place to live in College Park, Maryland.
My hobby is listening to podcasts, which are really cool. I do a lot of writing while listening to podcasts. In fact, I finished one book that I want to publish, and I am working on a second book in honor of my mother. She passed away two and a half years ago. I plan on writing a third book about the People for Fairness Coalition.
It’s been more than 10 years now since things have changed for me,
since the First Helping days. I always read about celebrities and people with stories titled “Where Are They Now?” So, here is mine.
I still live in College Park, near the University of Maryland and behind the Metro station. I am still working at Safeway, approaching my first decade with the company. And I am still with the People for Fairness Coalition. I am single and I attend services and volunteer at my church in Lanham, Maryland. I’m in charge of my own chapter of STARFLEET: The International Star Trek Fan Association and remain stable in my home of five years, the longest I have ever lived in any home.
