Breakfast at Sally’s: One Homeless Man’s Inspirational Story
Richard LeMieux writes about being homeless
“If you’re in trouble or hurt or need – go to the poor people. They’re the only ones that’ll help – the only ones.”
John Steinbeck’s The Grapes of Wrath
Breakfast at Sally’s: One Homeless Man’s Inspirational Story
With the economy melting before our eyes, it becomes clearer everyday that the world has changed but at times it is difficult to comprehend what the changes mean. Foreclosures are rising – even in wealthy neighborhoods – and an increase in homelessness will not be far behind.
Richard LeMieux is a man who never thought he would become homeless. He had a large house as well as a beachfront property and multiple cars. He went on a $40,000 vacation to Greece one summer. He owned his own publishing business. He had achieved what he thought was the American Dream.
Then the economy changed. With the rise of the Internet his business no longer was viable. He lost his house to foreclosure. His family disowned him. He became homeless for eighteen months. He lived in his van along with his appropriately named dog – Willow the Wonder Dog.
LeMieux wrote a memoir of his life as a homeless person and those that he met at the Salvation Army in Bremerton, Wash. He became a regular breakfast customer at the Salvation Army. He and his fellow homeless friends called it Sally’s.
“Breakfast at Sally’s: One Homeless Man’s Inspirational Story” is a must read. It humanizes the real life stories of the people he meets at Sally’s. Among these are C – a philosopher in a homeless man’s clothing and Randy who only wanted to cash a $20 check on his birthday. The book destroys the stereotypes not only of the homeless but the myth that it could not happen to us.
Click here to read a chapter of the book entitled “Bank of America.” It describes the efforts that Richard and his friend Randy undertake to get a $20 birthday check cashed. This is a paragraph that sums up the plight of the homeless.
I realized at that moment that Randy and I were financial lepers. We were third-class citizens, not to be touched. The bankers “the keepers of the cash” had created an island where all the lepers with no ID, or a credit score under 300, must go and live until they die. Off somewhere in ‘banking land’ rules had been made, then printed and sent out across the country to protect investors from Randy, and anyone like him, and all their twenty-dollar checks.
To watch a moving interview with Mr.LeMieux click here.
As John Steinbeck said we all know where to go when we need help. As the economy melts it becomes clearer that we not only need help but we need to help each other.
I am planning to make a reservation at Sally’s for breakfast.
