George Sidwell was stable. He had a house, he worked in the construction trade and had the skills he needed to make it. But then Sidwell became a statistic.
In a country where health insurance is a luxury, not a right, one of the leading causes of bankruptcy is the cost of medical care. Medical bills can rob a person of their future — which is what happened to Sidwell when he suffered a debilitating stroke.
After he left the hospital, he was sent into physical rehabilitation. As he re-learned how to function, the bills piled up. He didn’t have the ability to work or pay them and, as a result, Sidwell’s insurance eventually dropped him.
And then tragedy struck again. Sidwell’s home burned down just six weeks after he left rehab, leaving him hurt, homeless and hopeless. He’d worked hard all of his life. This wasn’t supposed to have happened to him.
“I felt like a piece of shit,” Sidwell said in an interview last year. “The way people treated me, I felt even more like a piece of shit.”
That has changed.
Standing before the crowd at the 24th Real Change Annual Breakfast as a Vendor of the Year award recipient, Sidwell thanked the people who came to support him and the organization that he credits in part with helping him get on his feet again.
“I want to thank Tim (Harris) for starting this thing called Real Change, for giving me people who had faith in me when I didn’t have faith in myself,” Sidwell said.
“I want to thank Tim (Harris) for starting this thing called Real Change, for giving me people who had faith in me when I didn’t have faith in myself,” Sidwell said.
Sidwell puts in the work at Real Change. He is a vendor, of course, but he is also a leader who takes part in the Vendor Advisory Board, a group that acts as a bridge to hold the organization accountable to the people who make it possible. He advocates for vendors, and also for the wider community of people experiencing homelessness by working with the advocacy department to fight for legislative change at City Hall.
He has also taken the brave step of joining the Homeless Speakers Bureau, a group of vendors who tell their personal stories of heartbreak and renewal in an attempt to break down the pernicious stereotypes that people experiencing homelessness face every day.
Sidwell is housed now and putting more energy into these other activities than selling the paper.
It took time, but he regained the faith in himself of which misfortune had deprived him.
“I felt I could make more of a change,” Sidwell said. “My voice needed to be heard.”
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Ashley Archibald is a Staff Reporter covering local government, policy and equity. Have a story idea? She can be can reached at ashleya (at) realchangenews (dot) org. Follow Ashley on Twitter @AshleyA_RC
Check out the full Sept. 19 - Sept. 25 issue.
Real Change is a non-profit organization advocating for economic, social and racial justice. Since 1994 our award-winning weekly newspaper has provided an immediate employment opportunity for people who are homeless and low income. Learn more about Real Change.