Melinda met Nick while he panhandled at an exit ramp. (photo: Melinda T.)
Today I met a man named Nick. Nick was standing near the exit ramp. I felt drawn to give the $10 to him so I parked nearby and walked across the way.
Nick has been on and off the streets for a year now. Nick was extremely skeptical to speak with me at first because he thought I was with the police and quickly pulled out his panhandlers permit to show it to me. Perhaps I was just as skeptical as this was the first time I had ever approached a person standing on the streets panhandling. I assured him I wasn’t with the police and he accepted that and then shared his life with me.
At the beginning of the video you see a quick shot of an ID. This is Nicks ID showing that he is homeless, I never knew there was such an ID available. He shared with me the views of inside the homeless shelter where he has spent a few nights and said the conditions there are awful and not a place for anyone to be but it keeps him out of the elements. He invited me to take a visit with him to the homeless shelter however I declined that offer.
Nick said today was his first day out on the streets and he was there trying to collect money so he could purchase Christmas gifts for his children. He was addicted to pain pills at one point and his life had went downhill since then. He’s currently not addicted to anything and is trying to get his life back on track by getting a job so he can pay for a place to live and not have to sleep at the homeless shelter or jump from home to home sleeping on people’s couches.
I would have liked to speak with Nick a bit longer but the temperatures today were extremely cold and the wind we were encountering didn’t help.
-Melinda T. from Xenia, OH
Year of Giving 