“When you end up in a shelter, stuff like that it puts perspective in your eyes.”
-Cullen Riley
People use the term “crackheads” when they see someone in the street, but that is not reality; no one knows the circumstances that led them to end up on the streets..
“I had 50k in the bank and my ex took it all” Cullen says. When you lose everything and you are not able to get a job because of it, and you end up on the street, it does not mean they use crack, or they are drug addicts; it just means they did not have the support to deal with the life circumstances they encountered. He also emphasized the high cost of renting and owning in our economy.
It is hard to stay clean, as in basic hygiene necessities, the weather is a big issue, staying warm or cool, the safety of sleeping on the road, “You never know what people are gonna do, so you sleep with one eye open, I guess”. Other necessities, such as food, are costly when living on the streets. He addresses how helpful it is to have the food bank and similar support even if they are first come, first serve, although, day-to-day, it is a stressful and depressing situation.
Cullen Riley ended up in the hospital last year with a 5 percent chance of living. He did not receive any kind of support from his family, only from his former girlfriend, and because of it, he fell into a severe depression. After that, he discovered his ex had been cheating on him during the whole relationship, he lost his home, and the two kids he raised with her as if they were his own. Shortly after his car got stolen and his bank account was drained, his IDs were stolen, and he had nowhere to live but the street.
