"I'm here right now, I survived it."
It's been three and a half years since Hurricane Katrina, and former residents of New Orleans are still dispersed throughout the country, most unable to return home.
James is one of these residents. He came to Seattle in the wake of the storm, still traumatized from the disaster, with nothing but a $2,300 FEMA check and a suitcase full of clothes. First and last month's rent, plus a deposit, took out a big chunk of that, not to mention the price of rent for his one-bedroom apartment.
Then one night while coming out of a grocery store, he was robbed: hit over the head and knocked unconscious. When he woke up, the money was gone. The rest ran out, and he was evicted.
"I didn't know where to go or who to see. Didn't know where no food bank was at, didn't know where no shelter was at, didn't know where no clothing was at," James reflects.
"Back home in Louisiana you're not homeless 'cause you got family and friends, [and] they won't let you sleep out on the streets.... I never thought I'd be put in that situation."
Then, one day, a vendor introduced him to Real Change. And after attending orientation, James found Top Pot Doughnuts, where he's been selling the paper ever since. "I didn't know anything about how to sell one of these papers, but I've learned how to sell it," James says.
After all, he didn't have any sales experience prior to selling Real Change; James' forte is total renovation. "There's nothing in a house or building I can't do," James tells me. Roofing, electrical, plumbing, framing, sheetrock, flooring, the list goes on: skills that came in handy when he had to gut and repair his mother's house after the storm. "That was the last time I been down to Louisiana," James says, pausing for a moment to reflect.
But for now, Seattle is home, and you can find James selling the paper Monday through Saturday, 9 a.m. to 6 p.m., outside Top Pot at Fifth and Lenora; where "You can get some terrific doughnuts and coffee."
To his customers, he says: "Continue buying Real Change, and keep God and smiling in your life. And thank you for your support."