hello
“I grew up in the Hill District, on Perry Street. I can remember going to a little kindergarten and growing up poor. Not having the clothes and food that we needed when I was younger, then going to school, not really knowing how to read or write or getting the right education, you know, ended up messing my life up.
But being raised up in the Hill wasn’t too bad. Even though we were poor, we still had fun. Everybody knew each other. We all played. We ate at each other’s houses, and we were all friends. It was like one big, happy family with no shootings, killings or any of that. We had unity back then, everybody was helping each other, even though we didn’t have that much food. There weren’t too many starving people because everybody shared. There was a time when the Hill District was really a popping place. I used to sneak out of the house because all the bands, like Lena Horne, all the old jazz players, they all used to come to the center. Now you can’t do any of that.
Drugs and not having an education, that’s what knocked me down. But being in jail, I learned a little bit once I came out, and I never went back. So I see hope. I definitely see hope. I see, like, these new houses and stuff coming up. Because they’re building and they’re trying, they’re trying to get it right. And Father Paul’s here too. Father Paul is, he’s like, the best thing that really happened to me. When I first came out of jail, he was the only person that would hire me. And I’ve been here since 2017 with them. You know, they took me up under their wing, and I’ve been here with them ever since learning from them.”