- What's your name by the way? - [Thoraya] Thoraya. - Terry.
- Nice to meet you, man. - Pleasure.
- All right give me a second. - Naw, I'm playing (laughs) (Thoraya laughs) - [Thoraya] All right,
man, what's your name? - Terry. - [Thoraya] Okay, and what's your story? - Well I fell in love with a woman and she ruined my life. Naw, I'm playing (laughs), I'm kidding. Well, my story on how I got to San Diego or how I got here? Well, I sold my mansion
for a penny, no (laughs). Well, I've had my ups and downs but I won't blame anybody. I had, I've been battling alcohol for some years now and I've had a house, I've had a couple houses
and a couple cars (laughs) and couple wives, no I'm playing (laughs). But alcohol eventually dragged me down. So I've had to start over and I'm in the process
of starting over again. - [Thoraya] Can I ask
a follow-up question? - Of course. - [Thoraya] So you said that alcohol is, well you would say,
the main reason, right? - Alcohol is the only
reason for everything. My dad's an alcoholic and
his father's an alcoholic, everyone in my family's an alcoholic, so I had to make sure I
carry the family tradition. It started off as a casual social thing, like smoking an occasional cigarette every now and then at a party or whatever your reason is. And then it became its own monster. I not sure if there's another
adequate word for it but it becomes, it becomes its own thing
eventually, eventually. What do you think people think? - [Thoraya] I mean, when I, I've had friends in the car with me and, like, I've seen a homeless
person and I've stopped and I've given the homeless person money, and they've told me, like,
"Why would you do that? "They're gonna spend it on this." And I'm like, "You don't know that." - Can't make an assumption, you'd don't know what
they're gonna spend it on. - [Thoraya] Yeah, exactly. - You could ask them if
it bothers you that much. - [Thoraya] Right (laughs). - You know what I mean, right (laughs)? - [Thoraya] Yeah, there you go. - "What are you gonna
spend this money on?" If they say crack, then
you snatch it back (laughs) (Thoraya laughs) Hardest thing is having a
certain level of commitment, a certain level of status, and then losing that and starting all over again, and then getting it back and then starting all
over again (chuckles). That sucks. - Well, you know, I started off with a, you know, a lot of people
like to think that it would be that I had a bad childhood
or something like that. It wasn't like that. I mean, I loved my childhood, I loved my mother, I loved my family. You know, I had a good upbringing, a great relationship, I was
very successful in business. I guess somewhere officially I have about nine years of college. In one night, in just one night, I lost my wife, I lost my daughter, I lost my house, I lost my car. I like to say that, "Oh, we
can get through anything." You know what, if you can get
through what I just told you, you're not human (laughs). Some things you just, you know,
you just can't get through. I don't care who you are, you know, a series of events
could knock anybody down. Life to me now is really
kind of such a blur. I mean, the only life I know is the one that I have
right in front of me now. How do you go about going into recovery and trying to be clean and sober when there's no reason? I'm not gonna give anything back. Who do I have to give? There's nobody to give it to. Tried to kill myself. I had a full prescription of Xanax, 60 milligrams, a full
prescription of Trazodone. I woke up well rested, I
can't even kill myself. I guess there's some sort of a purpose or something for me 'cause
I'm still here (chuckles). There's gotta be, 'cause there's no way I should've lived through that. There was a meeting I went to. In that meeting a guy
came up to me and he says, "I heard your story, I heard it. "About three and a half years ago "I was at Pathfinders." That was a recovery home I went to. And he says, "Well, I
heard your story there. "Then I heard it again,
it ran through my mind "while I stood on the Coronado Bridge "right before I jumped,
and I didn't jump that day. "That was three and half years ago." He said, "I got six guys I sponsor "and all of 'em know your story. "Did you ever think for a moment "that your life may be
not about yours anymore? "Maybe it's not about you?" If my story can save a few lives, that's enough purpose in itself, and you know what, I
have found purpose since, and that is it. You know, you gotta
understand that not everybody is evil out here. And if you keep on turning your blind eye, you're gonna turn your
blind eye on somebody that could help resolve the whole problem, 'cause there's nobody that
could help a homeless person better than a homeless person. And nobody's gonna help the
addict better than an addict. I don't know, find some
way, don't give up on us, 'cause some of us haven't given up, and I haven't. It's really hard to say that. If you wanna provide help, help them with a bus pass, but make sure you keep yourself safe. When you come out here, I can't tell you how many
volunteers I see out here with sneakers and tennis shoes. Sorry ma'am, but you're wearing 'em too. Needles poke through
those shoes real easy. Be safe. Don't come out here and
thinking that it's just, you know, a walk in the park, 'cause this is literally one of the most dangerous
places you can be. (emergency vehicle sirens blaring) - That right there, that right there, every 20 minutes they are
getting called for an overdose, every 20 minutes. In the year 2017 alone on 17th Street, there was 300 overdoses
on 17th Street alone. That's one street that way. I counted 39 people last week. I sat down to myself, "How
many people do I know?" It was 39 of my friends
dead in five years. - [Thoraya] I'm sorry about that, man. - All of us know, we're probably
some of the best at CPR. (laughs) Honestly, we know
how to do that (sniffles). - Well the reason I
got out here is because if you lie, cheat, or
steal things from yourself, you're usually doing it to somebody else at the same time. And what goes around comes around. (speaking quickly) any time
according to what you've done. I did stupid things to myself. I've been rich, I've driven
nice cars, nice houses. But when you get to the point where you really don't think
you're getting anywhere and you're losing connections with people, like, with alcohol, or
any substance accordingly. Mine was alcohol. And it just drove me to be self-contained, and it ran my life. I didn't make any friends,
I don't have any family. I lost those when I was a kid. My dad died when I was five, my mom was a heroin
addict, I emancipated her. I'm one of the ones around here that doesn't really need any help. I got my pension and Social Security. I was in the Marine Corps for a while, and after I got out of that, I just kicked around, I
don't wanna be inside. I don't really wanna
hear anybody's rhetoric or about the Bible. I've read it, I know what it says. Love others as you want
yourself to be loved. And if you can live by those rules, most likely you're gonna
succeed in whatever you do. Make sure you keep a hold
of the people around you as you grow up and make mistakes. Those people are the only ones that are gonna be forgiving towards you. Anyway, I've been out here
a while, about 12 years, and I've helped a lot of
people off the streets 'cause I have a sound mind
and I am a psychologist, went to San Diego State. But if you get into your own self, you think about what you're doing, you might be able to help somebody else figure out what they
might do for themselves. That's about it. - We're human beings
just like everybody else. We somebody's mother, brother, sister, daughter, child. We're grandfathers, grandmothers, we're all of that. Quit looking down on us and thinking that we're always guilty. You've got some of the best
people in the world homeless. I've met some angels. I've met some people so kind and so sweet and so loving and they don't have jobs and they sleep out here
on the sidewalk with me. And on the flip side, we have the meanest, the
dirtiest, the cruelest. Institutions tend to
let out the bad people and throw 'em right where
the homeless population is so we have a lot of bad ones and we also have a lot of good ones. This is called The Bottoms. This is The Bottoms of San Diego. We are connected to the earth, we are the people that's at the bottom. And when you're at the bottom and you see people struggling and you see people having a hard time, the real person, what you see, without the pretty glamorous, rich, money, all the beautiful things, houses, homes, cars, and all that then the true feelings come out. One thing in San Diego,
what needs to be done, we need to be able to use the bathroom. We need a place to wash our clothes. We need a place to wash our bodies, 'cause you can't get a
job if you're not clean and 'cause you don't have no self-esteem to deal with an interviewer if you're dirty and smelly and like that. So that's the main thing. Help us help ourself. And we need to be able
to be on the inside. Like right now, this year in San Diego, it's bitter cold. A lot of people are dying. I'm a elder man, I'm 58 years old. And the weather hurts
people and it kills 'em. I believe in God, I believe in good, and I'm not perfect. None of us are, so I try to keep the peace and, you know, trying
to keep people inspired that there is good and there is bad but, you know, try to stay more good. - I'm a native Californian, was born out in northern California. And I think the rent
just got too high for me to make it. You know, I got $1,100 a month. If your rent's gonna be a thousand, you're not gonna do so good with that. So I think that's basically what it is, can't afford the rent as
far as that's concerned. - I'm just missing love, long story short. Once I find love again,
I'm back in the wind with the money. But without love then you kinda lost, you're kinda confused, you don't know. But with love, the woman always made sure I was taken care of,
food, shelter, driving, made me go to work and
give her the whole check, but the point is always had a job. I'm missing love. Minus love is how I got
out here on these streets. I was never out here. I can't remember one time I was homeless. People out here with college
degrees, master's, doctorates, - [Thoraya] So I guess, can
you give us a follow-up? How are you doing? - Me and my boyfriend got a place already. I'm blessed and I'm
expecting a baby and stuff. We're doing good, though.
- That's awesome. - And I'm happy. We saved a lot of money up and we got our own spot by ourself. - [Thoraya] I'm so glad
to see you doing well. - Thank you. I care for the homeless people and I try to do my best to help them 'cause I know how it was. - [Thoraya] Is that why you're out here today?
- Yeah, to talk to them and stuff. And they all know me down here. I mean, I'm good person. - [Thoraya] I know, yeah. - I lost my wife two years ago to cancer. And it was real pretty devastating, you know. 20 some years together,
you know, my life was good. Good working job, and
doing the right thing, trying to stay on top of it. But it got hard, it got really hard. And I got to the point I
couldn't even go home anymore, we lived in the same house for 20 years, you know how that goes? So I had to go. And I packed up my stuff one day and put all my belongings in storage and took a leave of absence from my job and I walked away from my life. - I'm a chronicle homeless with physical and mental disabilities. I was a caregiver in San Diego Hospice. So after that I went sick. Unfortunately, I'm not
able to work anymore. So I come to this situation. As a human being, we fight and request, raising the voice to the
authorities to help us out, to be out of the streets. This unfortunately until right now I'm still waiting for that help. - [Thoraya] What's the hardest
thing you've been through since you've been on the streets? - Oh my Lord, crimes. That's the horrible thing that I ever see. I never thought in my life to see anything like that. I never see any crime like that and until right now I'm homeless, how they kill the people. They're stealing in horrible situation. How is the city deteriorated? And I'm so happy, you know, in media about this, you know, conversation that we
held between you and me and these cameras, I hope they can, you know,
a Good Samaritan come and give me that hand that I really need- - I hope so, too.
- to be outta here. Not only for me, for the rest of the peoples, the human being that we are. We proud to be an Americans. That's what really we need, and I'm proud to be who I am. - Hey everyone. I mentioned in part one of this how hard it was to decide to film and upload the episode. And it was just as hard
if not harder this time. I tend to overthink things when it comes to touchy subjects and vulnerable spaces like this one. I just really think that there
are a lot of misconceptions when it comes to the homeless community. And I also believe that the best way to solve problems like this is to ask hard questions
and share real stories. So I hope you learned a lot by hearing these stories
because I know I did. I'm gonna do everything I can to give back to my
community here in San Diego. And again, I hope you'll
do the same with yours. That's pretty much it. Thank you guys again for watching. Be kind, stay safe, and
I'll see you next week. (gentle piano music)
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The video is from Thoraya Maronesy where she asks homeless people to tell her their story. The video is 15min but I really suggest watching it all. The specific quote is at 5:38. I was thinking about how UBI could’ve helped the whole time.