Latest / The Inspired Stories Podcast / Chad Carbone's Recovery Journey: From 12 Years Homeless to Leading Boulder's Bridge House Ready to Work

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Chad Carbone's Recovery Journey: From 12 Years Homeless to Leading Boulder's Bridge House Ready to Work · The Inspired Stories Podcast

0:04
Welcome to another edition of the Inspired Stories podcast,
0:07
where leaders share their experiences so we can learn from
0:11
their successes and be inspired by how they've overcome
0:13
adversity. My name is Anthony Kotaspodi,
0:16
and today's guest is Chad Carbone.
0:18
Chad is the Director of Outdoor Operations at Bridge House Ready
0:22
to Work, a nonprofit in Boulder, Co that helps individuals
0:27
experiencing homelessness find stable work, housing and support
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through its Ready to Work program.
0:35
Chad struggled with addiction for years and eventually finding
0:39
himself homeless for nearly 12 years.
0:41
But this isn't a story of defeat.
0:43
It's a story of resilience, hope, and purpose.
0:47
After receiving help from multiple people along the way,
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Chad now dedicates himself to helping others overcome similar
0:54
challenges. Under his leadership, Bridge
0:57
House continues to expand its outdoor social enterprise
1:00
initiatives, offering paid employment and job training to
1:04
people in need. Ready to Work has received
1:07
recognition from local media, including the Daily Camera and 9
1:10
News, for its positive results in reducing homelessness and
1:14
improving lives. Today, the program also reports
1:17
a strong success rate of transitioning participants into
1:21
stable housing. Now before we get into all that
1:24
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AD back benefits.com. All right, back to our guest
2:08
today, the Director of Outdoor Operations at Bridge House, Chad
2:11
Carbone. Thanks for making the time to
2:13
Share your story today. Well, thank you very much for
2:15
having me. I really appreciate it.
2:17
All right, so Chad, let's just jump right in.
2:20
Before your struggles with addiction and homelessness came
2:25
about, what was life for you like?
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Well, you know, I was adopted as at 18 months old into a
2:32
wonderful family, just mom and dad.
2:36
My grandparents live next door. We, I grew up on a small little
2:38
farm with chickens and ducks and we were always camping, doing
2:43
something. You were involved.
2:45
My mom was the best person there ever was to get you ready for
2:49
holidays. She got every every holiday.
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We had tons of stuff and just did what your mom made growing
2:56
up very fun. She she would play with us as
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kids, you know, my sister and I and get our imaginations into
3:02
things. However, I later in life, I
3:07
recognized some some indicators about addiction in my in my
3:12
youth, like, you know, watching the old Warner Brothers cartoons
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and when there'd be a jug with the XXX on it, I would pretend
3:19
to do the same thing they were doing.
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So I would used to pretend to get drunk before I even knew
3:24
what alcohol was. But I think I've always
3:29
struggled with addiction. I was what we call a maintaining
3:33
addict after high school and in my working years until I wasn't
3:38
a maintaining addict and I just couldn't.
3:43
I couldn't get to work anymore and couldn't do life the way we
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do. I was doing it.
3:49
And what specifically were your addiction struggles?
3:52
Was it specifically alcohol? Were there other substances?
3:56
You know what it started with alcohol.
3:58
I grew out, grew up out just outside of Boulder in the 80s,
4:02
and drugs were quite prevalent around here when I was young.
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Most of the time it was not so much cannabis, but alcohol,
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acid, mushrooms. I had a friend who's had access
4:19
to large amounts of cocaine, stuff like that.
4:22
I just dabbled with the harder stuff when I was younger, really
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didn't smoke pot until I was in my mid 20s.
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So that's that's when everything really kind of started going
4:33
downhill. When you started smoking pot
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specifically or? No, in my mid 20s.
4:39
I'm sorry but no. But it didn't.
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It didn't help anything because it it's the ultimate demotivator
4:44
and I'd rather stay home and have a beer and watch TV.
4:48
Got it. So started out maybe with some
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like party casual drinking in high school and and started to
4:56
go downhill from there. Is that what I'm understanding?
4:58
Definitely. Well, I, I think I tried to
5:00
drink every last bit of alcohol when I was, when I was a, a
5:04
youngster, things were a lot different.
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You know, in rural America at that time, drinking and driving
5:09
really wasn't a big deal and drinking wasn't a big deal at
5:13
all. I mean, where I grew up, Duis
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really even weren't even giving out until the mid 90s.
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So it was pretty loose around here.
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Got it. OK.
5:25
And so is that what ultimately somehow LED you into
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homelessness? You said at some point you you
5:31
couldn't maintain, you couldn't get to.
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Work there was multiple factors. 11 was I I was drinking and
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using drugs pretty heavily while I was working and able to do so.
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But I had a girlfriend. We dated for about 3 years and I
5:50
left for a weekend canoe trip with my family and came back.
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And yeah, I was getting really close to maybe asking this girl
5:57
to marry me and came back, called her and she said I don't
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like you no more, don't call me. And I went from spending all my
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time in another city with her and I owned my own home at that
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time. I was doing pretty good driving
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a truck. I didn't know what the people in
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my house were doing that I rented to.
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So all of a sudden I had all this time and lo and behold,
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they were freebasing all day long.
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So I went, you know, I kind of skipped a step on cocaine from
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starting from lines to foilies to freebasing.
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I went straight to freebasing and within seven months I lost
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my home and I was in rehab. OK.
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And how did that stint in rehab go?
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You know, it was a 30 day deal. It broke me of cocaine but
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nothing else. Actually checked myself into a
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halfway house, which is a lot of people.
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That was weird. But I was like, I can't go back
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to what I was doing. And I didn't last long there
6:52
before I got thrown out and still kind of maintained for a
6:56
couple more years before. Well, I was in my grandma's
7:01
basement living there. Grandma let me live there next
7:04
door to my mom's house. And one day my mom and dad came
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in, literally kicked the door down, threw a bag at me and said
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pack some shit you're leaving. And they dumped me off in Denver
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and said don't come back. So that was a tough time that
7:19
that was my first experience with homelessness.
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You know, the stigmas and what you hear in the media, it gives
7:28
you a certain idea that it's really scary and dangerous,
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which it is, but not as bad as what the media makes you think
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it is. Does that make sense?
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A little bit. What specifically took place
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that led to your parents dropping you off in Denver?
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You know, my, my, my mom and grandma, my mom, finally, we
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call them enablers. My grandma was an enabler, my
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mom was an enabler. And my mom couldn't take it
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anymore. And she went to an Al Anon
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meeting and learned just how much enabling her and her mom or
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do we're doing for me. And that's when they made the
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decision to to do this. It's probably one of the best
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things that's ever happened to me.
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Wow, How so? Here it is.
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The people that you love that helped to raise you.
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They're kicking you out. They're putting you on the
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streets, dropping you off in Denver.
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And you look back on that and say it's one of the best things
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that ever happened. Well, it I had to experience
8:28
things in my life before I could have one, and that's where it
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started. You know, I I couldn't have
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ended up where I am today any other way.
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Let's let's explore that a little bit.
8:41
And you, you made the point of saying that it is scary being on
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the streets, but it's not the way that it's portrayed in in
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the media. What set the record straight?
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What is it? What is it like first person
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experience? The first few nights you you
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don't really get much sleep. You really don't know where to
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go. And then you just really start
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paying attention to what other people are doing and kind of
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figuring that stuff out. But in your mind, you're like,
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am I going to be attacked in the middle of the night?
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Am I going to be robbed? Is, you know, is what's going to
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happen to me? And you get over those fears
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pretty quickly because you have to, you don't really have much
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of A choice. And I didn't know much about
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shelters or food banks or anything like that at the time.
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So I had to learn all of that in, you know, once you learn a
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lot of that stuff, it, it makes it a little easier.
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I, I was never one to really stay in shelters.
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Of course, I didn't like the rules, but the shelter that,
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that was available to me in Boulder County, it wasn't where
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you could just show up and go in.
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You had to pick a number out of a, out of a, like a, a bowl, a
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poker chip with a number on it. And if your number didn't get
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called, you didn't get in. So you just, it's cold, it's
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dark and it's four or five miles away from where you need to be
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and you just wasted two hours of your time.
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And then you'd have to figure out a way to get back to where,
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you know, where, back to where everything is and just go to
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sleep somewhere. So, you know, I kind of stopped
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doing that and we had what we called squats out there.
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So I had like 5 or 6 different ones around town where you could
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go and feel safe. It was kind of like your home.
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You know what were those places? Bushes places that line of sight
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mostly for me in Boulder the the cops at the time were giving out
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camping tickets no matter what, so I would pick this place where
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the only way you could see me is if you're standing in one
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particular place. OK.
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So you know if I, you know, if, if you, if you're like for
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instance, next to the Creek here in Boulder on downtown where
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Broadway goes over the river, if you're standing on the, the
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bridge on top looking down to where I was, you could see me,
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but you couldn't see me from anywhere else.
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So you turned into a scout looking for these locations?
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Or were these locations ones that you shared with other
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people on the street that were kind of known in your circles?
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No, you only do that once before you learn, you know, you just
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gave up your your place to go because all of a sudden all
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these other people are there. I was pretty picky.
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I really didn't take too many people.
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And trust is it's hard to have out on the streets.
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You have acquaintances, but you don't make friends.
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So how was it you started to learn sort of the insurance and
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outs? Like did somebody give you some
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education along the way? Somebody point you in different
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directions towards the shelters, the food banks, etcetera.
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No, I just, I used to call it in.
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It's a lot of us. I probably picked it up from
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another person, but we'd say follow the turtles.
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And that's, you know, you have a 60 LB bag on your back.
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You can kind of look like a turtle walking down the street.
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So in Boulder, which is much smaller than, you know, most
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cities where homelessness is, everything's within walking
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distance. And once you learn the patterns
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and when things open and close, you just knew where to be.
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You know, I try to tell people being homeless was a full time
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job. I work probably worked harder
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being homeless than actually having a job and living in a
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house. What do you mean by that?
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Well, you got to start your day. I used to start my day way
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early, but that wasn't, that's another story.
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But you have to be up before 435 so you don't get a ticket from
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the cops. Then you got to try to find a
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place to go until other things open up around 8:00 or 9:00.
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And I'm sorry, could you repeat the question?
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Sometimes I blank out. It's OK, Yeah.
12:44
You were saying that you worked harder being homeless than at
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any other time. Definitely.
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So myself, I was actually physically able to do a lot of
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this. I don't know how disabled folks
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do this, but I'd probably walk up to 2025 miles a day just to
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get from one place to the X to, you know, you're always
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wondering where the next not wondering, but you know, you're
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always planning out your next move.
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You OK? I got to be at the First
13:10
Presbyterian Church at 5:00. It's 4:00.
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I got to start moving that way. So you you just really have to
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time everything to where you can get where you need to go to get
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what you need. And some of those things that
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you need were what food. You know, water was one of the
13:25
biggest things and one of the harder things for me to get
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water, food, you know, not so much shelter, but things that
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will keep you warm out there, those type of things.
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I I'd have to say the biggest commodity on the streets is
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socks. Socks.
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Socks. Clean pair of socks.
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You know when you don't wash every day and you don't change
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wash your clothes very often that that can be really bad for
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your feet and you smell like a shoe eventually.
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So socks is like I people used to ask me like, well, should I
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give money to pan handlers? I said no, you should keep socks
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in your in your glove box. I guarantee you those won't be
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left behind. I guarantee you those will be
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used. You know, I'm glad that you
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brought this up. I've got two young boys.
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They're 9:00 and 11:00 and I live in, in, in a city in
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Columbus, OH. So, you know, a lot of times we
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see, you know, people asking for money is, you know, we come
14:25
through an intersection or off the, the highway and the kids,
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my youngest especially is like, dad, why don't you give them
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money? And I'm like, you know, how do
14:34
you, how do you explain to a nine year old?
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But it, you know, it got me thinking, like, what?
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What could I do That would be helpful?
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And so you're saying socks. Oh yeah, socks is a big one.
14:47
What about food? Like is there particular food
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items or bottled water maybe? You know, water, like I say,
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water's a little harder to get because you're not really wanted
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in any place where you can get water.
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So bottled water, granola bars usually got eaten.
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But I, I, and I hate I, I can't say this for everyone out there
15:06
flying a sign, but most of them are a campers, what we call them
15:10
alcohol camp. And they're, they're just flying
15:13
sign for money for alcohol. But you know what?
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My mom and my, I, I get my mom to do this as well.
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She'll see somebody flying a sign.
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She'll drive through McDonald's, drive through and get the
15:25
cheapest value meal for them. And if they'll eat it, if the
15:28
folks eat it. And that's, that's another way
15:32
of doing that. But socks?
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Socks are the number one commodity out there.
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So socks, bottled water, food, but but so, and you seem to be
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saying what I'm trying to explain to my 9 year old.
15:46
Money is not a good idea. No, because you might be an
15:49
enabler, you know, someone might overdose from from using that
15:54
money, something like that. And you would never know that,
15:56
but you could think that. But what I do now is I keep my
16:00
cards, my business cards. And what I tell people is like
16:04
when you're ready to change, give me a call.
16:07
When you're ready to do something different, give us a
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call. We'll help you.
16:11
So yeah, in a couple minutes I want to get to the story of how
16:15
you came to be at Bridge House, but I don't know.
16:20
I've got some more questions here.
16:22
First, what's What's something that would most surprise people
16:27
about being homeless? This was a little This is a
16:34
little harder to answer The the to me, the most surprising thing
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is I've probably met the best people I've ever met in my life
16:43
at the very bottom of society. They're good.
16:48
There's a lot of good people. There's professionals, there's
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artists, there's writers, just moms and dads, you know,
16:55
addiction and a few missed checks can put you put you out
17:00
there and they're good people. Most, most of the people I met
17:03
we're good people. There's always, you know, people
17:05
out there to take advantage and whatnot, but that that's, I
17:09
think would surprise people most about homelessness.
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I have another stat for that, but I wanted to get into it on
17:16
one of the other questions that you're asking.
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But it's a very surprising stat that would really surprise
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folks. Actually, well, let's go ahead
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and hear it. Yeah, let's just move right into
17:25
it. Well, 40 to 45% of homeless
17:31
people have a full time job. They just can't get housing.
17:36
It's too expensive. They they don't get a break to
17:38
be able to save their money. But you know that that really
17:42
opens people's eyes. Almost 50% of the homeless
17:45
population has a full time job. OK, that does blow my mind,
17:49
'cause there's, there's this stigma of, you know, you see
17:53
these people on the street and you're like, man, I've been
17:55
seeing all these like help wanted signs all over town.
17:58
Like if you need something like go up there, get a job, start
18:02
working, right. But, but I'm missing something.
18:05
You're you're starting to connect some dots here for me.
18:08
Definitely. And that's, that's kind of where
18:09
I had that, that, that stat for that question.
18:13
It's not as easy as that. It's easy to say, go get a job.
18:17
I've had people screaming at me and, and you know, I just
18:19
chuckle to myself like I smell like a shoe 30 feet away.
18:23
I don't have clean clothes. I have no way of getting to a
18:26
job. I have no way of maintaining
18:28
that at this at the current moment where I'm in and it it
18:32
just, it's a, it's a silly thing to say unless you've experienced
18:38
it. It's it's hard to understand,
18:42
but you're just saying go get a job.
18:45
You know, gosh, you know, even if you don't have mental health
18:48
issues, you're experiencing mental health issues if you're
18:50
out on the streets because you're always kind of wondering
18:53
if you're the cops are going to mess with you or anything that
18:57
can happen. I can't think of anything else
19:00
right now. But mostly it was hiding from
19:02
the cops. Yeah, it's one thing you said
19:04
that surprised me. You had to be up at the crack of
19:07
dawn because you didn't want to get a ticket from the police so
19:10
that you're homeless, you don't have resources, and they're
19:14
giving you a ticket and saying what, you got to pay a fine now
19:18
because they found you camping in a non camping zone.
19:22
Is that right? Yeah, definitely.
19:25
Then Boulder, where I was, you, you could lay down on the grass
19:28
at night, but as soon as you put a blanket or a sleeping bag over
19:32
you, they considered it camping. So it's.
19:37
Yeah, you, you. Well, I learned, I learned right
19:40
away that you, you, you don't sleep in the parks on, on grass.
19:44
Grass in the summertime has dew on it in the morning, so you're
19:47
always sopping wet when you get up or you might wake up with a
19:50
sprinkler in your face. And you kind of teach yourself
19:53
how to how to hear that coming and be able to get up and out of
19:57
there before you get sobbing wet.
20:00
I do have to say one of the biggest things I did when I was
20:05
homeless was the quest to stay dry.
20:08
OK. Even at 45°, if you're sobbing
20:12
wet you could die of hypothermia.
20:14
Yeah. And so how would you stay dry?
20:17
Where, where would you go? What would you do?
20:21
You know, the places where I would pick where squats are, you
20:25
would be able to maybe put up a tarp or it would be on their
20:28
little awning, something like that where you could stay dry.
20:31
Plus, you know, the next day at the library, which you know a
20:35
lot of homeless folks hang out at, at least the one in Boulder
20:38
on the outer area, they had a a heating system where you can
20:41
take your jacket off and put it there for a little bit and get
20:43
it dried out while while you're reading a book and kind of
20:46
waiting to go to the next feed. Yeah, I've got to go back to
20:51
that stat, Chad, 40 to 45% of homeless people have a full time
20:55
job. That that blows my mind.
20:58
And then it, you know what you pointed out like it's not so
21:01
easy to just go get a job, right?
21:04
So there's the mental health aspect.
21:06
If you didn't already have some mental health issues, now you're
21:08
living on the street and you're for sure dealing with a whole
21:11
lot of stress, but just the, the hygiene component of it, right?
21:17
You know, McDonald's doesn't want you working there if you
21:20
know, you said you, you smell like a shoe.
21:23
And so it's not only that, you know, people have to want to
21:28
work. It's I've got to have access to
21:31
clean clothes or shower so I can get myself presentable, right?
21:35
Yes, Sir. And in Boulder, there was at the
21:40
shelter, there was programs that you get into if you're working,
21:43
they would have folks things for that.
21:44
But I kind of chose not to at not, not at first.
21:54
I was homeless for nearly 12 years, but off and on.
21:56
But there's a point when in my mind, for me, it became more of
22:01
a challenge and a learning experience than anything else.
22:06
How so? Well, I wanted to experience as
22:10
much as I could in the homeless world.
22:14
I've rode freight trains up and down the Pacific Northwest, just
22:18
did it because, well, I wanted to.
22:22
But it, it just, I'm starting to stutter a little bit.
22:26
Sorry, Sir. No, you're doing a great job
22:28
here. So I, I'm kind of curious about,
22:31
you know, 12 years on the streets and you were moving from
22:35
state to state. Is there some point where you
22:38
felt like, hey, this is just my life now?
22:41
Like I'm going to be homeless for as long as I'm on this
22:44
planet? You know, there was some deep,
22:47
dark times when you lose hope and you like, well, I'm probably
22:51
going to die out here, but for the most part, hope kept me
22:55
alive. You have to have hope.
22:58
Without it, you're doomed. Now, everybody listening to this
23:04
has been through some hard time in their life, some challenge,
23:08
and some are darker than others. But you know, for a lot of us,
23:14
myself included, I've always had the comfort of going back to my
23:18
home, which is dry. It's climate controlled.
23:22
I've got food in the refrigerator.
23:25
Like, as hard as everything else might be out here, I've got this
23:29
place of respite that I can go back to.
23:33
I can recharge my batteries. I can think about what's next.
23:37
When you're homeless, you don't have that respite, right?
23:41
Your, your central nervous system has got to constantly be
23:44
on guard. There's never a time to relax.
23:47
Yes Sir, It's called hyper vigilance.
23:50
I've been off the streets. It'll be 15 years in February
23:54
and I still carry a bunch of hyper vigilance with me.
23:58
I find myself looking for squats while I'm driving.
24:02
Those things never go away. I can't ever sleep past 4:30 in
24:06
the morning anymore. I just, it just it is so
24:09
ingrained in me. No matter when I go to bed, I'm
24:12
up at 4:30 in the morning. Yeah, yeah.
24:15
The hyper vigilance is, I guess you call it PTESDA.
24:21
You might carry, carry some of that around.
24:22
But I, I tried to rearrange the hyper vigilance into other
24:27
things like paying attention to all my surroundings all the time
24:32
turned into watching how folks are and seeing if their demeanor
24:36
is changing and it'd be a marker to see if they possibly are
24:40
using alcohol or drugs again. OK, so you just kind of change a
24:45
lot of that. But some of the hyper vigilance
24:47
just. You can't turn it off, so you're
24:49
trying to redirect that into other things that might be more
24:53
constructive for where your life is today.
24:55
Definitely picked up some really good habits when I was out there
24:59
too. It was I we used to read books.
25:01
It was my entertainment. So I still read books as but a
25:06
lot of it's fantasy and just sci-fi and stuff like that.
25:09
But I'm always now I listen to them.
25:11
I don't read them anymore. I'm cheater now.
25:13
But actually I I'm wearing glasses today because I spent so
25:18
much time reading it when I was homeless.
25:20
It blew out my eyes. And where were you getting the
25:23
books from? You know, I was, I was a pretty
25:27
good ground scorer and that means I, if people drop
25:29
something like money or something like that, I usually
25:31
would be the one to find it. At the Public Library here in
25:34
Boulder, you could buy paperback books for 1/4.
25:39
And this is something I did often.
25:41
I would get the best sellers and buy the books for 1/4, take them
25:45
to the bookstore down the street and sell them for 250 a piece to
25:49
be resold. And then I would go to another
25:53
used bookstore and buy the books I wanted because I, I, you know,
25:56
I read books. I'm really picky so.
26:00
Did you, how often did you find or did you ever find yourself?
26:03
I guess I shouldn't assume in situations where you had to
26:06
steal things just to survive. Food, clothing, socks, whatever
26:10
it is. Yes, Sir.
26:12
It's not a very proud moment for me, but I've probably got caught
26:16
shoplifting food half a dozen times through the years.
26:21
And every now and then I'd hit the Army surplus store and grab
26:25
a new pair of pants, you know, but that was all out of
26:29
necessity. And that's my excuse for it.
26:32
But it, it, it's just a situation I was in.
26:35
There was one year where it was starting to get cold.
26:39
It was like October and I just had sandals because it was just
26:42
over summertime and I couldn't find shoes at any of the places
26:47
where you could go and get them for free and stuff.
26:49
So I had to go to Goodwill and just put on a pair of shoes and
26:51
walk out. It just I I did what I needed to
26:55
do to survive those. Those times where you got
26:58
caught, Chad, what happened? Yeah, you know, I and wind up in
27:03
jail, not all the time, but you know, it could be a ticket
27:06
offense, but you write me a ticket, I'm not going to court
27:08
and I'm definitely don't have the money to pay a fine.
27:10
So I I was OK when they took me to jail because I could take
27:13
care of everything within 3 or 4 days and I actually got some
27:16
good sleep and some food. Did you ever put yourself in a
27:21
position intentionally so that you could be taken to jail?
27:24
No, it wasn't. There.
27:26
No. My worst day outside was better
27:28
than any of my best days inside of jail.
27:30
OK. You know, there were times when
27:33
you're hitchhiking in Northern California in the middle of
27:35
winter and it does nothing but rain and your clothes just fall
27:38
off one day because they rot in the rain.
27:42
You know that's better than one day in jail.
27:45
OK, So what was the turning point that made you decide to
27:51
change your situation? This is a funny 1.
27:57
It started with well, there's a whole progression throughout the
28:00
years where when I travelled, I learned things when I travelled.
28:04
But what really did it was one Saturday morning, I was sitting
28:08
there, it was cold and I was like, God, I'd like to be home
28:12
in my underwear in front of ATV watching cartoons and that it's
28:18
one of the most simplest things, but that I think that's where I
28:22
I was like, all right, I'm ready.
28:23
I'm ready to to move on and to do something else.
28:27
I mentioned briefly about traveling.
28:29
My last traveling trip was to Virginia and I learned community
28:34
there really, really cool little small town, really strange small
28:40
town. It was a place we, we called the
28:43
folks there dreadnecks. They were kind of like redneck
28:46
hippies. I don't know how else to explain
28:50
it, but so, you know, I was there and this, this, this one
28:56
of the community members fell and hurt his back and he
28:59
couldn't cut wood for his family that winter.
29:02
So the whole community got together and we cut enough wood
29:04
for six winters for him. And I, I was sitting there
29:07
watching everybody and what they were doing for their neighbors
29:10
and how they cared for people. And I, I, I think that was the
29:14
last, one of the last things I needed to be able to move on
29:18
from homelessness. I don't, I don't, I don't expect
29:23
people to understand this, but it was very hard for me to give
29:26
up being homelessness. Try to remember back when you
29:29
were five to seven years old and you were totally free.
29:32
You could do whatever you wanted, but you still had your
29:36
parents. They're directing you now.
29:38
Imagine yourself being an adult, being able to pick up and do
29:41
whatever you want, wherever you want with nothing.
29:46
So, you know, once you learn to travel and how to navigate that,
29:49
I, I traveled well, I tried to stay out the middle of the
29:51
country because politics are a little harder on homeless folks
29:55
in those areas. But you, you just, you learn
29:58
you, you learn how to, to survive.
30:04
You, you mentioned, you know, riding trains up and down the
30:07
coast, Pacific Northwest. Were there other ways that you
30:10
were getting from one state to the next?
30:14
Hitchhiking, we gas jugged it. That means where you're with
30:17
somebody has a car and you go from gas station to gas station
30:20
and, you know, ask for someone to put gas in your car.
30:24
And you know, I, I didn't fly a sign.
30:26
I was not a flying. Well, I can't technically say
30:29
that all the way, but I didn't like flying a sign.
30:31
I only did it when I travelled. And I've just had a sign that
30:34
said just want food and had a gentleman in Northern California
30:38
test me on it once he came up and he said, oh, you just want
30:41
food. I said yes, Sir.
30:43
And he's like, get in my car. So he went and he took me to
30:46
dinner and paid for it. And we're on our way out.
30:48
And he's like, that's all you want.
30:49
And I was like, yes, Sir, thank you.
30:51
Could you get me back to where we started, though?
30:53
And he whipped out the $20 bill and said, I'll do that.
30:57
So it was a great experience. Hitchhiking can be scary.
31:02
I will not do it now. In those days, I hitchhiked all
31:05
over the place. Got to be careful.
31:08
There was one time where I was hitching with a friend of mine,
31:11
and I'm really glad I had in person with me because we got
31:14
into a car and I instantly got the heebie jeebies.
31:18
This guy's going to try to kill us.
31:22
He's like, kind of creepy. And he's like, I borrowed my car
31:25
for my grandma on the weekends to pick up hitch hikers and
31:27
driving places. And it just freaked me out.
31:32
And, you know, I got out and I told my friend when we got out
31:34
and I was like, did you think he was?
31:35
He's like, Oh yeah, He's like, I'm glad we were together
31:39
because I don't think it would have ended the same way.
31:42
Wow, that's scary. One of the more scarier times.
31:45
But myself, my experience, everybody has different
31:51
experiences out there. I didn't have too many times
31:54
when I thought I was going to be murdered or something like that,
31:56
that this didn't happen. In fact, I was more scared of
31:59
college kids than anything else. College kids.
32:01
Why yes. Drunken college kids in a large
32:04
group can go cuckoo bananas really quick.
32:08
OK. Yeah, when I yeah, I just put my
32:12
head down and get away. People used to cross the street
32:15
at night when they'd see me, and I just kind of laughed to
32:17
myself. Like, you know, I'm probably the
32:19
only one around here that would stop someone from hurting you.
32:22
And I'm not going to do it. I'm not that scary person.
32:24
I might look scary, but I'm not. So back to this community that
32:31
you were around where people were, you know, chopping the
32:33
wood to help somebody that hurt their back.
32:36
What was it about that particular situation that was
32:40
the last thing that you needed to make a change?
32:45
Learning to care for others and give of yourself without
32:50
anything in return. You know that I think that I
32:55
think that's what it that's what it was.
32:57
I call it community. But if it's more you give but
33:01
you don't, you don't receive anything in back, but you do
33:05
you. You deserve character, which my
33:07
dad would love to hear. And things like that.
33:11
You just helping people, it makes you feel good.
33:16
Yeah, when you spend so much time being homeless, do you kind
33:23
of lose some of that that that definitely the community, but
33:26
the even the empathy for other people because you're so focused
33:30
on taking care of yourself and just surviving.
33:34
No, a little bit of the opposite.
33:37
Like I said, you couldn't really make friends, but we all looked
33:39
out for each other boulders. It was a small community and we
33:43
would you, you might not like somebody, but if someone's
33:47
messing with them, they're they're your brother and you
33:50
you'd stand up for them. You just you really got to
33:53
watch. You know, if if someone's bag
33:58
was stolen or lost, you'd give them what you give people, folks
34:03
what you have, what you could afford to give, and then try to
34:07
help them get to a place where they could get what they need.
34:12
OK. So this was sort of the last
34:15
thing you needed sort of this reminder of giving of, you know,
34:19
doing for others without an expectation of receiving
34:22
something back. And then how did that lead you
34:26
to Bridge House? Well, after that, I, I was
34:31
travelling with a, a gentleman at the time and we were all
34:35
sorts. There's a big story around it.
34:37
But we were staying at this gentleman's house or a farm and
34:40
he had a little cabin on it. And we would work for $20 a day,
34:44
five days a week and right into town once a week.
34:47
And so we can get supplies and living in a little tiny cabin
34:51
with another person said it's a lot like you can.
34:55
Yeah, it, it doesn't end well. So, you know, we just started
35:00
not getting along and I got me a bus ticket out of there as soon
35:05
as I could wound up in Boulder. And when I got back here, I was
35:09
kind of, I think I might have been depressed a little bit, but
35:12
I started drinking heavy and my homeless acquaintances friends
35:17
came to me and they said, hey, we're worried.
35:19
You know, you're doing this pretty hard.
35:20
And that's when I was like, Oh yeah, you're right.
35:24
So in the process of making this choice to get off the streets, I
35:29
decided to volunteer at the place called the Carriage House,
35:33
and it was the homeless day center in Boulder called the
35:36
Bridge House now. But I started volunteering 8-9
35:40
hours a day, five days a week for nothing.
35:45
And, you know, doing whatever needed to be done, cleaning
35:48
bathrooms, serving food, cooking food, washing dishes, helping a
35:52
client get somewhere. When I was 1 and they finally
35:57
said, you know, you want to work here.
36:00
And I said, yes, that's why I'm doing this far part of the
36:03
reason. But yes, so that happened in
36:07
February of 2011. I literally went from sleeping
36:12
under a bridge a few blocks away to living in a house and having
36:15
a job in 24 hours. It was, it was a really crazy
36:19
turn around. They're like, you know, at the
36:22
same time they offered me the job.
36:23
They said, well, this gentleman here says he would offer you a
36:26
place until you could find one of your own.
36:29
So you know, once again, one, one thing I had to learn being
36:33
homeless as well as how to accept help.
36:38
I grew up in a family where you, your family would help you, but
36:41
you didn't ask for it. And it it it took a while to be
36:45
able to accept help from others and feel good about it.
36:51
So how long were you volunteering there before they
36:53
offered you the job? Well, I got the job in February,
36:56
so it's I started right after the Christmas time somewhere in
36:59
there. January 1 of the coldest nights
37:03
I ever spent outside was about a week or two before I got the
37:07
job. It was 18 below out with the
37:08
wind chill. And that was a another, another
37:13
thing where I said, OK, you're getting older.
37:16
When you were younger, this you thrived on this.
37:17
Now you can't, you know I got, I wasn't able to carry my bag
37:22
anymore as well. All day long my body was
37:26
breaking down. How old were you at that point?
37:29
38, just about 39. OK, yeah, living on the street
37:35
for 12 years, it's got to take its toll, mind and body.
37:39
Yes, well, here I am. I'm in 53 now and I have some
37:43
major back problems. I have some major knee problems,
37:46
arthritis, and a lot of that is from doing what I did when I was
37:51
younger. I I knew I'd have to pay at some
37:53
point, but it's starting to catch up to me now, yeah.
37:56
So Bridge House previously was Carriage House, yes.
38:02
Tell us more about what goes on at Bridge House.
38:06
What are the services that you guys provide now?
38:08
Well, are you talking those days are now because it's a little
38:12
it's changed quite a bit in the in the sense that time.
38:16
Let's talk about what present day is.
38:18
President day. So bridge house is now we don't
38:24
have a day center anymore. What we offer now is the what we
38:29
call the three legged stool housing, work and case
38:33
management. We provide dorm style living for
38:37
folks room and board. We, we, if, if you came through
38:43
a program, you don't have to spend a dollar while you're
38:45
there, unless you have to get a driver's license.
38:47
You don't have to buy food. We can get you clothing.
38:50
We, we can help you save as much money as you can.
38:52
Most people don't, but we, we, we, we take care of the basic
38:57
needs. So you can start taking care and
38:59
healing yourself. You know, you can start focusing
39:04
on kind of legal issues, you have some mental health issues,
39:08
maybe some other types of things that you know are barriers for
39:12
you to move on with your life. Mental health is a big one for
39:17
us. So you you say you're not a day
39:22
center. So Carriage House was a day
39:24
center before, which is what the place people can come to and
39:27
just spend time during the day. Yeah, well, it's a little tiny
39:32
building that and it's called the Carriage House because it
39:34
was in an old carriage house and you could come and get a cup of
39:39
coffee. There would be bread and stuff.
39:42
You can make toast, but there was always lunch available.
39:44
It wasn't the best, but it was food.
39:47
You could also get IDs, birth certificates, sometimes socks.
39:52
And they did offer a shower a couple days a week.
39:55
You couldn't take one every day, but, you know, maybe once or
39:57
twice a week you could shower. Every now and then you can get a
40:01
haircut. Just basic needs.
40:04
And some folks came to be safe. One other surprising thing is,
40:11
and this is a a statistic I I just blows my mind is nearly
40:16
100% of females that are homeless have been assaulted in
40:20
some way on the streets or before.
40:22
It's an alarming number in those the the day centers make it a
40:27
little safer for you. OK, OK, so today it's a bridge
40:33
house and there's the housing dorm style living work.
40:39
And so tell us more about the work.
40:41
Are they doing work there at the the site?
40:44
Explain how this functions. So when, so when we accept
40:47
someone in the program, there's a whole process, you know, we
40:51
fill out an application, we talked to you, we do an
40:53
assessment, we call it the, it's called the ASI and we learn more
40:57
about you there. And then we accept you into the
40:59
program. Then you become an intern for up
41:03
to a month and some people longer if you're waiting for an
41:05
ID and they work for, they clean the house.
41:10
So it's a great time for us to get to know the, the new folks
41:13
and then to get to know us. Sometimes it doesn't work out
41:19
and that's, that's, that's what that time is for.
41:21
So once we have our case management meeting, we accept
41:25
folks that are in the intern program to be part of, to be
41:29
become a trainee. They start the outdoor work
41:31
phase or the work phase of the program.
41:34
We have two social medias. We have a community table
41:37
kitchen and then the department I run which is called just out
41:39
plain outdoors. We do very general landscaping,
41:44
graffiti removal, trash cleanup, painting, just about any low end
41:50
unskilled job you can do. We have shifts from either 4
41:55
hours, 5 hours, six hours and some are 8 depending on where
41:59
you are and legal status is where you kind of get placed in
42:02
those areas. If someone comes into our
42:05
program on drug court, their afternoons are always taken an
42:10
IOP, which is intense outpatient treatment type stuff.
42:15
So that's why we have, that's why we offer so many different
42:18
types of, of hours there. Then they come back to the
42:21
house, either take a shower, go to groups.
42:24
We, we have mandatory groups here that they have to go to
42:27
where they can go to outside a, a stuff like that.
42:29
And then, you know, one of the biggest things we really try to
42:33
get these guys to to experiences.
42:37
This is your house. We just work in your house.
42:40
So this is your house and, you know, keep take care of it.
42:45
Shepherd. We, we, you know, try to get our
42:49
clients to help shepherd the new folks and lead them in the right
42:52
direction and keep them out of trouble.
42:56
What is that application process like?
42:58
What are you looking for? You know, they're just basic
43:01
questions we're seeing, you know, if if, if you're actually
43:05
willing to work a full time job afterwards where your mental
43:09
health might be, where you been, some of the legal stuff that you
43:14
might be challenges you might be experiencing, but most of it's
43:19
getting you to show up because showing up is if you show up, it
43:24
says you want to be there. So, you know, in the beginning
43:29
it was just a, a walk in process.
43:31
Now it's a little more involved with the Internet and phones and
43:34
stuff. So you know, when they make an
43:36
appointment with the intake specialist, if they show up,
43:38
most of the time they get in the same day.
43:40
If we can get them through some of the process, they have to run
43:43
a background check. We do have some disqualifiers
43:46
for the program, arson and sex offense spenders.
43:50
Our insurance can't handle that. And I can't really send those
43:53
guys out on on my work crews because we usually work nor a
43:57
tour near a school in the public view somewhere.
44:01
And, you know, fortunately, there's other programs for folks
44:05
like that. And so is there a term to this
44:09
program like do you expect people to sort of graduate out
44:13
of it? Or is this kind of a this could
44:15
be something that as long as they're following the rules,
44:18
they can stay in it forever? No, no, no.
44:21
That would be counterproductive on our end.
44:23
So it's about a year long program.
44:25
I've I've left out a lot of stuff.
44:26
Thank you for reminding me. So the intern phase is about a
44:29
month and then I get either myself or community table
44:34
kitchen. We we get the trainees for about
44:37
7 months. Once they enter their 7th month
44:40
or they start what we call employment classes.
44:42
And from that point forward they could start looking for an
44:45
outside job, but they still have to complete employment classes.
44:48
It's resume building, how to do interviews, lots of mock
44:51
interviews, those type of things.
44:53
And then once they get a job, they're able to stay up to a
44:56
year. We try to encourage once you
44:58
have enough money saved up to make room for somebody else, but
45:01
it could be up to a year. We've had some folks over a
45:04
couple of years that there's some circumstances around it,
45:09
maybe some cognitive issues where it's hard for us to find a
45:11
job for somebody, legal issues where they've their legal past
45:16
is pretty bad and it's hard to get past any kind of background
45:19
checks for a job. So sometimes those those things
45:23
take a little while longer to do to to work out.
45:27
What kinds of jobs are you typically able to help people
45:30
get into? You know, we've got people of
45:34
all different types of skills, but I would say the most jobs
45:37
that we get filled are hospitals, cleaning up in the
45:40
emergency rooms of cooking. We, we send a lot of folks to
45:43
the airport to get jobs at, at the, where they cook food for
45:47
the airlines. Plus we've had a couple bus
45:50
drivers come through and they, we've had several people get
45:53
their CDL and are driving over the road right now with trucks.
45:56
But most of it is, you know, lower level entry level
45:59
positions, garage door places, Havacs.
46:03
We really try to push a career rather than just a job.
46:06
So we, we try to discourage you people from working at fast food
46:10
places. Not that that's a bad thing or
46:13
not a noble thing, but we want more of a career for somebody
46:18
where they can work into a career.
46:20
And so as you're helping them with that transition into
46:24
finding a job, how are you also assisting them and finding a new
46:30
residence? So that's another part of the
46:34
program. So 1/3 of the third of what you
46:36
make when you're working for one of our enterprises goes to your
46:40
savings, a third goes to your pocket and a third goes to a
46:43
room and board. So you know, if you most
46:48
typically if you get, if you don't call in sick a lot and
46:52
you're there pretty much every day, by the time you finish the
46:54
7th month, you have about $2500 saved up.
46:59
So it's in that area somewhere and you can choose some, some
47:02
folks have chosen to put 100% into savings that they could and
47:06
they walk out here with $6000. So it's a, you know, we, that's
47:10
a mandatory part of the program. We were, we put a whole lot of
47:14
money and time and work into helping folks figure themselves
47:19
out of not figure themselves out, work through their issues,
47:22
work through their stuff to to get out only to not have a place
47:26
to go or be able to afford a place to go.
47:30
The the unfortunate thing is everywhere is really expensive
47:34
right now and the dollars really aren't available.
47:37
We used to have some how some, some money that would come from
47:40
this from either the county of the state to help folks get into
47:44
housing and that that's gone. So it's been gone for a few
47:49
years for us. But we that's when we really,
47:52
really got our savings program robust and operating at the way
47:57
we really want it to be. You got to have that.
48:02
Yeah. And and do you have good
48:04
relationships with like a a number of places that are like,
48:08
hey, we, we appreciate the employees that you've sent us
48:12
before. Consider us part of your
48:14
pipeline, please, you know, continue to send us more folks
48:17
or is it not as structured as that?
48:20
Oh yes, with some of them, especially the hospital, which
48:22
I, I mentioned first there, we have a really good relationship
48:25
with them and they're, they're open to some of the pasts that
48:33
our, our folks have. So that they're, they're willing
48:35
to overlook the past because your past doesn't define you
48:39
with that's a big belief of ours.
48:41
So we look for partners like that.
48:44
We right now we're in three different cities, Boulder,
48:47
Aurora and Inglewood and the Aurora and Inglewood buildings
48:50
haven't now Aurora's been there about 5-6 years and Inglewood
48:53
just opened. So we really haven't established
48:55
ourselves in the community holy yet.
48:58
So a lot of that comes through the work I do with the city's
49:03
word of mouth. You know, I can go back.
49:06
I love telling this story and it's a little off of what you're
49:09
talking about. But so when I first got hired to
49:14
run the Ready to Work, I was the very first person hired to hired
49:16
Isabel Mcdevitt as the director of IT.
49:19
She hired me to, to help build and run it.
49:23
So, you know, her and I, we went to the city of Boulder and said,
49:26
Hey, you know, we got this idea. We want to put these folks to
49:28
work. You know, we're, we're going to
49:30
have five people, you know, would you like to start a
49:32
contract with us? And they basically laughed at us
49:35
and told us no. So we went back and we said,
49:40
we'll do it for free for six months.
49:43
And that's how we got our start. And the word of mouth from that
49:48
is really, I get most of my new jobs from word of mouth from of
49:52
other cities, superintendents that they meet all the time and
49:56
talk. So you know, hey, I just met
49:58
Dennis Warrington from the city of Boulder.
50:00
He says you guys are great. Would you like to come to West
50:02
Westminster and do the same thing for us?
50:04
Like set up a whole new operation there, like new dorms
50:07
and everything or? No, a contract for work.
50:11
It's it's a, it's a big process opening a building that takes a
50:15
couple of years most of the time.
50:17
But no, it's, it's word of mouth to where the, the, what we do
50:23
aligns with social. I'm not sure the right word
50:27
there, but they align. The city's trying to cities are
50:31
trying to help homeless folks and look like they're helping
50:33
homeless folks and we're there to do it with them.
50:36
Does that make sense? So it, it, it's a, it's a win
50:41
win situation. Our program, our program also
50:44
transcends political divides and lines.
50:47
Everybody needs a job. Everybody needs some, some help
50:50
every now and then and it, it rather your one affiliation or
50:54
the other it it works in your town.
50:58
Couple years ago, Melissa and I, the CEO here, we went to place
51:01
called Denton, TX and help them start a place called ready for
51:04
work. And they, you know, it's a
51:08
little different from ours, but in this little town in north of
51:13
Dallas, you know, it's a little different than Boulder, a lot
51:17
different. And it's thrived there.
51:20
I, I talked to my, to the gentleman.
51:22
We, we help them hire to run it out there all the time.
51:25
And they're, they're doing really good.
51:27
The city of Denton loves them and they're helping people get
51:30
off the streets, which is my main goal, one of my main goals
51:33
in life. Well, that's great.
51:35
I've got a good friend who lives in Denton.
51:36
I'll have to hit him up and see if he's familiar with the
51:38
program. It's it's ran out of of of the
51:41
the shelter called Our Daily Bread.
51:43
OK, Our Daily Bread. What specifically does your
51:48
department do there, Chad? Well, My, my, my, my specific
51:54
job is to get, not get, find contracts with cities or whoever
52:00
and then start working there from there.
52:03
I have my teams built underneath me.
52:05
I have managers about, they're called managers of outdoor
52:07
operations. Wonderful, 2 wonderful folks.
52:10
We're going to have another one soon.
52:11
But so they, they, our scheduling is a big puzzle
52:15
because there's so many different moving parts, there's
52:17
different hours of all this stuff.
52:19
So they, they schedule out in the morning or weekly before
52:23
each one does a little different.
52:25
And then we'll send folks out to either to the city of Aurora,
52:29
the city of Boulder, the city of Littleton, or we go work at the
52:32
animal shelter in Adams County. And you know, we're training
52:37
program. So we try to train folks, not
52:41
try. We train folks to learn how to
52:43
work. There's a really neat recent
52:46
experience I had with the lady in Inglewood.
52:49
She came up to me and she's so excited and I was like, what's
52:51
going on? And she's like, I got my very
52:53
first paycheck I've ever gotten today and that that that was
52:59
cool. And she's a little older than
53:01
me. So and then, you know, she every
53:05
time I ask her, I said, what you doing?
53:06
It's a paycheck, you saving it. And she's like, I'm saving every
53:08
last time. So it's just you have some folks
53:12
that's never worked a real job in their life a lot they've
53:16
either sold drugs or I'm not exactly sure, but it and then
53:21
there's other folks we, you know, try to train people how to
53:24
not have power struggles at work.
53:26
You know, you'll get the high, high, higher maintenance folks
53:32
that have some anger issues and stuff like that.
53:35
And that's the reason, part of the reason why they can't keep a
53:37
job is they explode on their boss.
53:40
So we recognize that and sometimes I pull them into my
53:42
office and let them explode on me and then I work them through
53:45
it. OK.
53:46
What was that like for you, Chad, sort of making that
53:49
transition from being on the streets to volunteering to now
53:53
working in a, you know, professional capacity?
53:57
It was interesting. So we were talking Melissa and
54:03
IA few last couple years ago about it.
54:07
I got hired on to help start ready to work a founding member
54:10
when I was seven months off the street.
54:13
So when I look at it now and we're seven months working with
54:16
me here and I'm like I look at some of the folks and I'm like
54:19
wow, I was a lot like that. It it, it, it took a while to
54:28
get used to and just, I'm sorry, I'm losing my train of thought
54:33
on that one. No, you were doing great.
54:36
I know that, You know, making that transition from, you know,
54:39
being on the streets to now you're working in a professional
54:42
capacity for the first time in a long time.
54:45
Probably some things that you had to get accustomed to.
54:48
You know, the the idea of compromise, perhaps.
54:52
Yes, well, compromise was a big one for me.
54:54
I was, you know, I was on the streets and it was my way
54:58
because it was just me and I did what I wanted to do and how I
55:03
wanted to do it. And you know, I had to learn
55:08
politics as well. Politics is goes along with
55:11
compromise. And you know, I learned pretty
55:15
quickly if I get 25% of what I'm asking for it, it was a good
55:18
day. So that was difficult to learn
55:23
and accept, but it, it was something I had to, to do.
55:27
I have really had to readjust a lot of my stuff in my life.
55:31
I had to relearn how to talk to folks and brush up my language
55:36
and not be so blunt with things. That's kind of like a a hammer.
55:43
And then I learned that that that's no way to really get
55:45
people to do or to to be with somebody else, especially if
55:49
you're trying to help them. It doesn't work like that.
55:53
Of course, you, you mentioned mental health is obviously a big
55:56
part of, you know, issues that people are dealing with there
55:59
and some of the support that you're trying to provide them.
56:02
What does that look like that that mental health support or
56:05
maybe even like, you know, physical health support that
56:07
people get there? So, you know, I mentioned
56:11
earlier that we have a, an assessment tool called the ASI.
56:13
That's where we find out for, for us and our program, we serve
56:18
probably about 3035% of the homeless community.
56:23
Some folks are just way too mentally ill.
56:25
Some folks are just not ready to do it.
56:27
But the mental health piece, we, we, we encourage folks to see a
56:37
therapist or a MAT medication assisted treatment.
56:43
It comes along with counseling, but during the ASI, we, we can,
56:48
we can kind of identify, you know, where some folks mental
56:51
health is, especially by the meds they take.
56:54
And we found a little sweet spot in there to where if it's not a
56:57
certain amount of this and this people are more successful.
57:03
So we're, we're not targeting folks, but we, we know what
57:07
works best. A lot of times we, we don't
57:12
avoid taking younger, younger people, but we found that most
57:16
young people aren't ready to do this.
57:19
Even if they stay sober through the whole program, They, they,
57:22
they fall off the wagon pretty quickly afterwards.
57:24
It's just you're too young. You got you.
57:27
You got to go through a little more before you're ready to give
57:30
it up. OK, what advice would you give
57:33
to someone who is currently experiencing homelessness, Chad?
57:38
Don't lose hope. Don't lose hope.
57:41
And when you're ready and you want to do this, come see us.
57:45
I'm not going to force you because we don't do the work for
57:48
our clients, our trainees. The trainees do the work, and
57:52
the most successful ones are the ones that actually address their
57:55
issues and work hard to overcome them.
57:59
Don't lose hope, I think is a big one.
58:01
It's a big message even for folks not experiencing
58:03
homelessness. But I think it's one of those
58:05
things that's easier said than done.
58:08
From your perspective, Chad, somebody who's been through the
58:10
ringer, you know, 12 years on the streets, addiction issues,
58:14
you know, having to find a place to sleep, having to find places
58:17
to eat. I don't know.
58:19
What advice do you have for everybody, anybody listening?
58:22
How do you how do you hold on to that hope during those really
58:25
dark times? Keep your humanity, Yeah, for
58:38
for everybody. Be as kind as you can to folks.
58:42
You know, I, I, I find myself driving in traffic nowadays and
58:47
everybody's angry and I'm, I let everybody in.
58:49
I go out of my way to be kind. It's, it's just the better way
58:55
to I'm stuttering a little bit. It's just a better way to go.
58:59
Hope, kindness, honesty, taking responsibility, all of those
59:06
things together can make anybody successful.
59:10
I. Love it.
59:12
What's your favorite thing or your favorite hobby?
59:14
Something to do outside of work, Chad?
59:17
You know, I'm an avid fly fisherman.
59:20
My entire family is. I got to take a, a few seconds
59:23
to brag about my, my oldest nephew, He, he's on the USA
59:28
men's fly fishing team and they won third in nationals this year
59:33
and him and his team just took national championships here in
59:38
the States. So it's pretty cool, but we
59:43
actually got him addicted to that when he's starting at 3
59:46
years old. But that's that's mainly what I
59:48
do that reading. I hope take care of my mom.
59:52
She's getting a little older. I lost my dad last year and it's
59:58
just I like a boring life now. I like mowing the lawn and
1:00:01
watering it. It's just sitting on my porch,
1:00:04
you know, watching birds. It's.
1:00:07
So much better than stress and stuff.
1:00:10
What was it like reconnecting with your parents?
1:00:14
Oh, well, that was a tough one. So followed around a lot.
1:00:17
And I, I sent him a letter here and there.
1:00:19
I have one particular story. I was in the library in Salt
1:00:21
Lake City, UT and I, I called the librarian over on the
1:00:26
computer. I had a question for her and she
1:00:27
wore the same perfume as my mom. And I lost it.
1:00:32
Guy hadn't talked to her in two or three years.
1:00:33
So that night I wrote a letter and you know, and you know,
1:00:37
said, hey, how you doing that type of stuff?
1:00:39
And, but as far as reconnecting back here, it was interesting.
1:00:43
I, I got back from another traveling trip and every time I
1:00:46
traveled, I never knew if or when I would ever get back.
1:00:49
Sometimes it took a couple of years, but I'd get back.
1:00:53
And I had done some stuff in the legal, in the legal world before
1:01:00
I became homeless and it caught up to me.
1:01:02
I got ID basically a day or two after I got back and ended up in
1:01:06
Jefferson County Jail and somehow that my family found out
1:01:10
about it. So I was we kind of come got
1:01:14
well, not kind of. We got reunited in a county jail
1:01:18
visitors booth. It was pretty cool.
1:01:24
But it was pretty cool. Yeah, for me it was.
1:01:27
Yeah, I'm sure it wasn't for my mom and dad.
1:01:29
It's probably the last place they would ever want to be.
1:01:30
But right there in that moment, as I got, I haven't seen him in
1:01:33
so long. It's so good to see you so that
1:01:39
that that happened. And then, you know, I, I
1:01:44
established more contact with mom after that a lot.
1:01:47
So, you know, when I was still homeless, Mom would come to
1:01:49
Boulder once a week and she'd take me to the Y so I could
1:01:52
shower and and then she'd go to lunch and then Daddy, I'd see
1:01:58
her the next week at the library again.
1:02:01
And So what was the timeline between reconnecting with your
1:02:04
folks and you finding your way to Carriage House?
1:02:12
So there was a stint in there where I was really, really well
1:02:15
connected back with them because I'd spent some time in a rehab
1:02:18
and I was doing well and then I just fell off the wagon but and
1:02:22
then stopped communicating again.
1:02:27
It's probably about I waited about nine months, you know,
1:02:30
almost a year before I called my mom and said, Hey, mom, I'm, I'm
1:02:33
living in the house and I got a car and I'm working.
1:02:37
I didn't want to get everybody's hopes up again and then just to
1:02:40
let them down. So I hadn't, I had to make sure
1:02:44
I was pretty solid where I was before I, I did that again.
1:02:47
There's so much you do to your family when you're in this
1:02:49
situation where you don't realize that you're like, I'm
1:02:52
not hurting anybody but you. Are you hurting a lot of hopes
1:02:58
and I chat. Go ahead.
1:03:00
Go ahead. No.
1:03:01
I want to hear it. No, it's just it still kind of
1:03:08
makes you tear up a little. So without, I hear stories now
1:03:15
of folks that their parents were awful to them and they had
1:03:19
nobody and they still crawled their way out.
1:03:21
And I yeah, I I feel for them because you know your parents,
1:03:27
they'll always love you. Always should.
1:03:31
I love that. Just one more question for you
1:03:34
today, Chad. But before I ask it, I want to
1:03:36
do a few things. First of all, anybody that's
1:03:39
looking to get in touch with Chad directly, his work e-mail
1:03:43
address is chad@bhrtw.org, chat@bhrtw.org, and anyone who
1:03:52
wants to learn more about what they're doing at Bridge House,
1:03:55
it's Boulder bridgehouse.org, Boulder bridgehouse.org, and
1:03:59
we'll have those in the show notes.
1:04:02
Also, as a reminder to folks, if you want to get more employees
1:04:05
access to benefits that won't hurt them financially and
1:04:08
carries a financial upside for your organization, reach out to
1:04:12
us at Add Back benefits.com. Finally, if you'll take just a
1:04:15
moment to leave us a review or a comment on your favorite podcast
1:04:20
app, I'll be forever grateful. Thank you very much.
1:04:23
And Chad, so last question for you.
1:04:25
A year from now, you and I reconnect and you are
1:04:29
celebrating something big. What's that big thing you hope
1:04:33
to be celebrating one year from today?
1:04:41
Wow, that's a hard question. Yeah, I would love to buy me
1:04:51
some property in some acreage up in Wyoming outside of Laramie.
1:04:55
And it's that's, it's a dream of mine.
1:04:59
So yeah, I, I've, I've lived some dreams already.
1:05:04
And not that I'm thinking of leaving this place, but next
1:05:08
year I would love to move on to the next big adventure.
1:05:11
OK. And why specifically that spot
1:05:14
in Wyoming? You know, it's it's near
1:05:20
Centennial and near the Laramie Plains lakes.
1:05:22
My, my mom, dad and I, mostly my dad and I spend a, a lot of time
1:05:26
there. When I was younger, my dad, my
1:05:28
dad and I were seriously addicted fishermen and we, we
1:05:33
were Mad Men with it. And my, now my nephew is.
1:05:37
But yeah, that's, it's just have a big connection with it.
1:05:39
The entire family's been going to some of these places over 100
1:05:43
years. Oh wow.
1:05:45
So yeah, it but I, I'm happy in my job and I don't want to
1:05:50
leave, but I'm, I'm pushing. I'll be starting my 16th year in
1:05:55
February or 15th year. I don't know, like it's either
1:05:58
one of those. And yeah, I'm going to.
1:06:01
I'm, I'm kind of ready to live the next dream.
1:06:04
Sometimes you got to spread your wings.
1:06:06
Yeah. Yeah.
1:06:07
Well, Chad Carbone from Bridge House, I want to be the first to
1:06:10
thank you for sharing both your time and your story with us
1:06:13
today. I really appreciate it.
1:06:15
Thank you for having me. It's great honor to speak about
1:06:18
this with anybody. Yeah.
1:06:21
The more I get out there, you know, my, my main goal is to
1:06:24
change people's minds and homelessness.
1:06:26
It's not that scary. And it's, it's your brothers and
1:06:29
your mother's and your sisters and others as well.
1:06:33
So. You've done a lot of good in
1:06:36
sharing your story today, and I know the 16 years that you've
1:06:39
been at Bridge House, you help countless people, so thank you
1:06:42
for that. Thank you.
1:06:45
Folks, that's a wrap on another episode of the Inspired Stories
1:06:48
podcast. Thanks for learning with us
1:06:49
today.