You are visitor to John Balderson's Homelessness Diary web page.

Thank you for visiting this section of my web site.

I am chronicling my experiences for those interested in learning about "breaking the cycle of homelessness", a quote I like from the resource development director of the HAC, Ezra Krieg.

Below is a diary of my activities.

I am not spending as much time with entries in this diary as I used to, because up until a week ago I was busy working 6 nights a week from 8PM-7AM at the Target at Coral Ridge mall. Unfortunately the 60-70 hour work weeks got the best of me and becuase I was seasonal help and because I became exhausted easily by the end of the week, I was let go with last Friday being my last check.

I used a majority of the money to re-order a laptop computer from Gateway Country Store next door to Target that had been returned to them, because the UPS driver mistakenly had told the receptionist at the HAC that he could not leave a yellow pick-up slip for me to pick up the computer at the Lauderhill UPS depot. It was shipped out November 12, and returned to them in South Dakota on December 7.

After I paid the difference for a larger hard drive and a cellular modem card, the new system should arrive by December 22, but I will have to babysit the delivery this time,as I do not want the same thing to happen to this computer, and I have no other reliable place that I can use to send the computer to. I will track the computer using the UPS tracking number on their website at http://www.ups.com and when I see it has left Jacksonville I will make myself available near the HAC so that I can flag down the UPS truck before it tries to make another aborted delivery.

Although I am concerned about my personal safety because I will be carrying around a laptop computer, my second major concern is to replace the clothes and software that were lost when my duffel bag was stolen from Las Olas Riverfront last Friday night. I do have some older clothes at my secret stash place out by the airport, but I will have to wait until after the first of the year to get clothes from First Baptist Church as the Wednesday clothing distribution is shut down for the holidays.

Lisa Huriash from the Sun Semtinel met up with me today at my current sleeping spot to detail my daily activities as part of her on-again/off-again article about me that is supposed to be in the Sunshine Sunday magazine sometime in the near future.

It is now time for me to get my head out of the clouds and try to find another job so that I can pay for the computer, and have something to live on for a while. This is not how I expected to be greeting the new millennium, but I just seem to have that kind of bad luck. It is almost as if there is a nig sign on my back saying "Kick me".

As things get better for me, hopefully, I will let those who are still reading this diary aware of my experiences.

What a difference a few days makes.

On Tuesday night/Wednesday morning at 5:30AM myself and three other people sleeping under the bridge at I-95/Broward were questioned by the Florida Department of Transportation(FDOT) and BSO. Considering my previous bad luck with BSO, I was issued a summons to appear in court on January 20, 2000 at the West Regional Courthouse and I left immediately afterward.

I have yet another job, this one with a national inventory taking company called RGIS, who does computerized inventories for major retail accounts like Penneys,Sears,Target,Neiman Marcus,Publix,Winn Dixie,etc. Although I am on the payroll, I will not probably get my first assignment until January 5, 2000, and will be doing mostly daytime inventories although I have full-time flexibility to work any hours.

In addition, just today, Lisa Margulis from Community Feeding Program helped me to get housing similar to what I experienced at Foundations, but not as harsh, at the Davidson House, located at 599 NW 40th Court, in Oakland Park. She pointed out to me that I have just about run the well dry in terms of alternative housing in Broward County, so I better make this work.

I also found out that the computer should be arriving early next week, so the new job came just in time as I now have to pay for the computer as well as $110 a week for the housing.

More details to follow.