In many ways “Will’s” daily life might seem familiar to members of Trinity’s family. He awakes early and goes to bed early. His workday is long and challenging. Sometimes he has trouble sleeping at night due to stress or uncertainty. Sound familiar?
But Will, 58, a familiar figure around Trinity, leads a life unfamiliar to most. Will is homeless. He sleeps in a tent in the woods. When he awakes at 6 am he goes to an Alcoholics Anonymous, meeting. Then he gets on his bicycle for another day of “scrapping,” as he calls it. He rides at least five hours at a time seeking car batteries, faucets, stainless steel sinks or pieces of copper, aluminum and brass he can take to a Lansdale scrapyard.
“Car batteries and sinks are really good items for scrap,” Will explains. But they are also heavy and cumbersome. So, Will finds himself often making multiple trips to the scrapyard. His daily income? Around $12, maybe a little more on a good day.
He often visits Trinity in the morning and has been coming to the church about 12 years. A visitor might find his bike locked near the playground door. He is well-known to Trinity’s staff including Denny Smith, who manages Trinity’s facilities and property.
Denny has gotten to know many homeless people in his 20 years at Trinity. “I’d say eight out of 10 homeless people I’ve encountered have mental health issues,” Denny says. “Sometimes they will try to hide at the church. Usually I can tell when I arrive each morning if something is up or someone has been inside.”
“Will is different,” Denny says. “I trust him. He looks for me. If you offer him cans of soup, he only takes one can. If you try to give him a pack of disposable razors, he’ll take just one. If you offer him packages of socks or underwear, he only takes one, just what he needs, no more. He makes a point of leaving items for others. He always profusely thanks God and the people of the church for what is given him.”
“When the last flake of snow falls, Will is always here to help with snow removal,” Denny says. “He is really reliable that way.”
Will often goes to Manna on Main Street for a late-morning meal. He is well-known at Trinity’s Wednesday evening dinners, which are open to the community. He spends time at the Lansdale Public Library reading, or at the Alcoholics Anonymous Clubhouse. Will is well-read and curious. He is a good and enthusiastic conversation partner. He asks this writer about his travels and knows about the culture of Papua New Guinea when that country is mentioned to him. And Will is always in attendance at Trinity’s Code Blue initiative when it operates in the intense cold.
He claims to have been sober for more than three years now. As is true of many in society, alcohol abuse and drug addiction led him down a slippery slope.
Once he made good money as a pole climber for a local television cable company. Then Will decided he wanted to make a trip to Florida. He stopped in Atlanta, GA, made a couple of friends who taught him all about the roofing and construction trades and found steady work there. “People always told me they liked the way I work, that I was reliable,” Will explains.
But after returning north, he fell into addiction in 1987. “At first drugs and alcohol made me feel cool,” he recalls. Apprehended three times for drug possession, Will lost his license and each time was fined $2,500. He still owes the courts $7,500 and can’t get his driver’s license back unless the fines are paid, he says. That’s when he lost his livelihood. Today he hopes he can find a better paying job, possibly in a warehouse, and in the best of worlds, a ride to and from the workplace. He insists he is finished with drugs and alcohol. “I’ve aged out of that,” he says. “I don’t like the way I feel when I’m using.” And he notes that his age is beginning to catch up with him. “Some days my joints are killing me from all the riding that I do,” he says.
The biggest myth about being homeless? “It’s just hard work,” Will explains. “Scrapping is very hard. And it takes a lot of energy to try to keep warm. There are often complications.” For example, Will has three bikes. He salvages parts from two of the bikes to keep the best one on the road. Several years ago, Denny and Mary Ann Swords-Green, then a colleague of Denny’s, went together to buy Will a bike. He’s worn it out. He’s had Lyme Disease three times and found help at the church to afford the medications to recover. One night in his tent a skunk broke in. Thinking it was an opossum, he kicked the creature and was sprayed. In Luther Hall at the church, Denny helped Will first bathe in tomato sauce to kill the smell, then shower and put on new clothes to resume his life. Sometimes when Will returns to his tent he finds his meager belongings have been ransacked.
“I can’t thank God and the people of this church enough for what they have done for me over the years,” Will says as he relates his story.
“I’m just hoping that when Trinity people see Will that they’ll be nice enough to just say hello,” Denny says. “People tend to avoid him, but I want them to know they don’t have to be afraid of him.”