Cool Story

[jilly]

Posted on Tue, Feb. 10, 2004  
 
Homeless no more
Room 'such an opportunity for me'
MELISSA MANWARE
Staff Writer

 
LAYNE BAILEY - STAFF PHOTO
 
Gerald Rice, 47, holds a photograph of his 7-year-old daughter Jessica while standing in his room at the Salvation Army transitional housing center on Clanton Road.  

 
Gerald Rice, homeless three weeks ago when he pulled a disoriented 68-year-old man from the woods, has his own room tonight and half the money he needs to buy a car.

Rice, 47, moved into Salvation Army transitional housing Monday. He paid his first month's rent with money donated by people touched by an Observer story about how he paid two other men cigarettes for helping him carry the shivering man to a homeless shelter.

"I did it because the man looked like he needed help. I didn't know it would be a big deal," he said. "This is such an opportunity for me. I don't have to carry everything (I own) around anymore. I've got my own bathroom and a phone."

Since Rice's story ran Jan. 27, dozens of people have asked how to help him. His counselor at Urban Ministries has received $700 earmarked for Rice and a few calls about steady work for the unemployed construction worker. The counselor put the money into an account that she oversees.

Rice, who is from Rock Hill, said he left a good job in Sarasota, Fla., last year to live near his 7-year-old daughter, whose mom had moved to Fort Myers, Fla. He said he was having trouble getting hired there without a car, so he decided to come to Charlotte to spend a few months working for a friend who'd landed a job at the uptown arena site.

His plan was to save enough money to buy a car and then drive it back to Florida, where he could work and be near young Jessica.

"I told her I'd be home for Christmas," he said. "I had no idea it would be so hard."

Rice said the arena job fell through and he couldn't find another even though he has his own tools and can hang wallboard and do metalwork, framing and some plumbing.

For a while he lived in Rock Hill with Rodney Foley, a friend who teaches construction at Central Piedmont Community College. Foley, who met Rice at a construction job 18 years ago, said his friend couldn't find good work in Rock Hill, so he decided to move to Charlotte even if it meant sleeping on the floor in a shelter.

"I had the TV and all the food (at Rod's house), but it wasn't doing me any productive good," Rice said. "There is nothing for me there."

He discovered he could get hired doing daily construction work in Charlotte, but the jobs are given out daily and the line forms before 5:30 a.m. At first, he said, he stayed in cheap motels, but in early January his money ran out.

Rice, who graduated from Northwestern High School in Rock Hill and spent four years in the Army, said he'd lived in boarding houses before but it was his first time without a place to stay.

"For somebody who knows better and wants more, it's rough," he said.

Rice owns more than he can carry, so he kept some personal belongings hidden in the woods near Urban Ministries on Tryon Street. On Jan. 20, he went into the woods to get some of his things and saw the man sitting on the ground.

Rice assumed the man was homeless, so he told him he needed to get to a shelter. But the man didn't acknowledge him.

Rice went to the shelter and got the man some socks. He went back to the woods and helped the man put the socks on. After he realized the man couldn't walk, he offered some guys cigarettes in exchange for help getting him to safety.

The man, Lindsay Crawford, wasn't homeless. Police and his family had been searching for him for almost 24 hours. He'd become disoriented, left home the day before and then lost his car.

"You could tell he was a gentle old man. You could see it in his eyes," Rice said. "I thought he was just coming out of a drunk. Now I think the Lord was looking out for that guy and he thought he'd just have me be there."

Since the Observer told his story, someone called Rice's counselor about a potential construction job in Concord, but without a car or reliable ride he can't apply. A woman offered two months' free rent in an east Charlotte duplex in exchange for some odd jobs, but Rice decided the Salvation Army would be better because it's close to day-labor jobs.

Today, he will pick up a $100 reward from CrimeStoppers.

Rice doesn't think he deserves all the attention. Foley thinks it's been good for him.



"He just did the right thing because that's the way Gerry is," Foley said. "All the talk of reward made him uncomfortable. But the attention has helped him see that he has value and people can like him for who he is."

Rice's plan is to live for several months at the Salvation Army while he saves enough money to buy a car and get set up in a new place. Then, he will move back to Florida to be near Jessica. With a car, he thinks getting a good job there will be easier.

In the meantime, he sends her Barbie doll clothes, crayons, books and other inexpensive toys. He calls her at least once a week. And he keeps pictures of her and her artwork in his wallet, and a letter she sent in his coat pocket.

"Basically, she is what makes me happy," he said.
 
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This is a really cool story and shows what a non-custodial father will do to be with his child. I hope he makes it. And I hope this little girl realizes what a great Daddy she has.

[StPaulieGirl]

"For somebody who knows better and wants more, it's rough," he said.


[p]Did you notice that this man is a veteran?  I guess they ran out of jobs that Americans will do.  Sorry, but I started getting angry half way through the story. His little girl has a wonderful man for a father.  

[jilly]

Yeah...I did notice that.  It's a crying shame our country can't/won't take care of our veterans better.