Longtime Real Change Vendor Greg Cummins passed away Jan. 18, 2024, at age 64.
Cummins was named Real Change Vendor of the Week in 2009. He earned a Bachelor of Art in business and had a diverse career, working for Seattle Veterans Affairs Hospital, Boeing and the Kent School District.
Cummins was resilient, as he faced struggles with generational addiction. His parents were functioning alcoholics, and for a while, he was, too. “I started drinking at about age 14,” Cummins told Real Change back in 2009. “I’ve lost a lot of good jobs because of it.”
Working to achieve a sense of stability wasn’t easy nor linear for Cummins. He had been homeless off and on for several years, sleeping in dumpsters, doorways or emergency shelters.
“I basically just wandered the streets,” Cummins told Real Change. “[When you're homeless], you have no place to go, no place to be.”
Despite his challenges, Cummins persevered. He became sober and gained the respect and support of his regular customers at the University District Trader Joe’s. At the time of his passing, Cummins was housed.
Described as a tender-hearted man with a thick exterior, vendor program director Caroline St. Clair says Cummins was an engaging presence in the Real Change office.
“He took his health issues in stride as he openly communicated his struggles, never letting anything stop him from coming in and getting the Real Change paper,”
St. Clair said. “Even up to his final days, he was calling the office to keep us in the loop of where he was at, never forgetting to tell us how much selling the Real Change paper, his selling location and his customers [meant to him].”
St. Clair said Cummins found a lifeline with Real Change and shared that she was grateful Real Change could be a safe space away from his daily troubles, where he could speak his mind and be listened to.
Cummins was also a huge jazz fan and could often be seen selling the paper outside of jazz clubs and chatting it up with the musicians.
“He was quick to appreciate a good joke and would do any favor you asked him,” former Real Change staff member Rebecca Marriott recounted.
Greg Cummins is remembered in the Real Change community as someone who bore his struggles with courage, good humor and grace.
Susan Storer Clark is a contributor and writing coach for Real Change. A former broadcast journalist, she is currently at work on her second novel.
Read more of the Feb. 14–20, 2024 issue.