Homeless couple offer insights into life on roadside

Helping the less fortunate is a holiday ideal, and during the holiday season the area is speckled with people asking for money.

Most seeking donations are ringing bells for the Salvation Army at the doors of department stores and supermarkets.

However, at the Interstate 55 overpass at William Street, homeless transients are also counting on drivers' generous holiday spirits and are asking for handouts.

This week, a homeless couple identifying themselves only as Paul and Marlene stationed themselves at the intersection with cardboard signs asking for help.

Paul, a tall, thin man with a gray beard, has been a transient for 20 years since leaving Alaska, homeless pretty much by choice, he said.

"I grew up on the road with my parents. I guess I never really lost the urge to travel," he said. "But I'm getting tired of it now. I'm 45 years old, and I've got health problems slowing me down."

Marlene, 39, has been "living outside" for three years. Her eyes squint from the wind and sun as she sits at the exit ramp, bundled in two jackets, her dark red hair sticking out from under a ball cap and hood.

She said after being laid off from an eight-year job as a nursing aide at an Iowa hospital, her home burned and she had no insurance.

"Most people are only a paycheck away from losing everything, but they don't realize it," Marlene said.

She has two adult children in their early 20s, but doesn't want them to know what has become of her. She was alone until she met Paul under a railroad bridge in her town. He showed Marlene how to survive outside and has taken care of her ever since, she said.

They arrived in Cape Girardeau more than a week ago, looking for Paul's sister, who they believe is living here. For now, they bed outside in sleeping bags, but Marlene said they may leave for a Kentucky shelter sooner than they planned.

"I'm not geared down properly for this winter weather," she said, pointing to her thin sleeping bag. "They need to have a shelter here. But, I guess they're afraid of attracting more homeless here if they had one."

Army's offer

Cape Girardeau's Salvation Army does offer the homeless at least a night's lodging at the Relax Inn on Morgan Oak and are provided with a meal, Maj. Robert Gauthier said. The organization occasionally provides a bus ticket.

Paul and Marlene have talked about marriage, but only because families are typically offered more housing assistance than individuals, which Gauthier confirmed.

"Fewer than a fourth of the people we see are true transients," he said. "The majority of people we get to help are homeless people from around the region, some of which are in domestic-violence situations and just need help with transitional housing."

Drugs and alcohol are a big part of life for the homeless in the United States, as 34 percent have substance addictions, according to the Missouri Association for Social Welfare. The streets are dangerous, especially when 28 percent of the homeless have severe mental illnesses and may be prone to violence.

Sometimes, the homeless face harm from those they are asking for help. Some drivers hurl insults, but some get physical.

"When we were here last year, a man in a black pickup got out slapped me hard, knocking me down," Marlene said. "He got back in his truck and threw a quarter that hit me right in my forehead."

A few drivers will give money and a few will give food, but it's the money they most need, Marlene said.

She pulls two frozen packages of hamburger and a frozen ribeye steak from a nylon bag.

"What am I going to do with these?" she asked. "It's not like I have a stove out here. I have to give it to someone else, so it won't go to waste."

Paul sets a daily goal for what they need to take in, but he wouldn't specify an amount of money. Occasionally, they rent a motel room for a night to clean up and wash their clothes in the bathtub.

Police chatsTheir encounters with local law enforcement have been smooth, Marlene said. The police will ask for identification, run a criminal history check and then bid them farewell because they have no warrants issued against them, Marlene said.

Lt. Ike Hammonds said that's about all anyone can expect police to do because it is not a crime to be a transient.

"Typically, we get calls from passersby who are concerned about traffic hazards," Hammonds said. "But there's not much we can do if they aren't in the road causing problems. ... We leave them to go on with their travels."

There is a belief among many that transients at intersections aren't homeless at all, but are really just scam artists. Hammonds agrees some asking for handouts aren't really in need, but a few are being honest.

"Some of these people, especially those with signs that read 'will work for food' are for real," Hammonds said. "But, I think people are living more cautiously now when they encounter this and are not as naive as they used to be. Because it seems like every time you look, they're out there."

Paul understands the negative opinion drivers may have when they see him next to the road, but he said they have a choice.

"I hope people have a little slack in the way they think about us," Paul said. "I tell people don't judge a book by it's cover. Because this is my cover and it's not much, so if you don't like it, don't look at it."

mwells@semissourian.com

335-6611, extension 160