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Focus Group-Samm Trail 1 Male: So, where you from? Mike: Seattle. Male: Why are you in Redmond? Mike: Trying to move away from my family and I not going to get into anything personal thing about that. Male: How long you been in Redmond? Mike: About a year and a half. Male: A year and a half, so where are you staying in Redmond? I mean, so are you still staying at the Landing? Mike: No. Male: But you used to stay at the Landing? Mike: Used to, yes. Male: And you’ve been in shelters in the area? Is that the only shelter or service that you’ve been with? Mike: I’ve been with that and then I’ve been with the emergency shelter, the winter shelter. Male: So what keeps you here in the Redmond area? Mike: My girl. Male: She’s in the Redmond area, too? Mike: Yeah. Male: Is she from Redmond? Mike: No, she’s from Alaska, she’s at, have you ever heard of a Tlingit? Male: I have. Mike: She’s Tlingit. Male: Is that like an Alaskan native? Mike: Yep. Male: Is she at the Landing or has she ever stayed at the Landing? Mike: No, she’s actually got housing right now. I just don’t stay there because of personal reasons. It’s just people she lives with. Male: Is she in Redmond? Mike: Yeah. Male: So you have a support system as a [inaudible words]? Mike: Yeah, she supports me, she gets checks and sometimes she helps me out. ---PAGE BREAK--- Male: So you’re sleeping on the streets in Redmond now? Mike: Anywhere I can as long as it’s close to her. Male: You told me just when we were walking out, but just for the record, what’s your plans and what’s your goals for yourself. Mike: Get housing for me and my actually, get my girl and me a place to live without having to be in a house without her. Just getting a place for me and my girl to just chill in, sort of thing. Male: That’s your goal so do you have any...? Mike: And get a job and replace my Social Security card that got stolen. Male: You have any help with any of those things? Mike: Me and the Landing and my girl takes care of some stuff for me because she’s not one of those gold diggers, she helps me out, which I actually found one that can help me out, and I actually like it. I got one supporting me. I’m used to be with them that would just be not want to hang around me when I’m broke and want to hang around me when I got a check. She ain’t broke and she like it’s not about the money, I’m like okay, first time she said it’s not about the money, I’m like, okay. I going to keep her this time, okay? Male: It’s good that you got somebody in your life to care about you and to help support you. Mike: Yeah, usually they won’t do that. Male: So she knows about your goals? Mike: Yeah. Male: Do you have any plans in place with any of the agencies or organizations or anybody that you’re working with to like try to reach those goals? Mike: If it’s housing, not if they only do single people. And for the jobs, yes, I’ve been actually applying and I’ve been going for interviews. My girl’s going cut my hair for when I have the next interview. Sorry, I talk about her a lot. Male: That’s alright, I mean this is you answering and that’s why it’s good for you to speak for yourself so people can understand where you at and what you got going on and why you stay here, you got a support system here. Mike: Yeah, I’m still trying to get a little bit more help because she gets paid, I’m not telling you how much, but a little bit. I wasn’t even going to tell you how much and so I was thinking, nah, I don’t him that well. Male: So Mike, what drew you to Redmond out of when you left your home, what drew you to Redmond? Mike: I got stuck out on the bus and ended up in Redmond and the town kind of stuck to me. The eastside stuck to me for some reason. Male: So this is where you made your home? ---PAGE BREAK--- Mike: Yeah. It’s the people, it’s the nature outside, it’s the girl, it’s everything. It’s a lot of things why I don’t leave the eastside, mainly Redmond. Male: Have you been in different areas and different places? Mike: I grew up in Kent. I lived in Federal Way in an apartment at one time, so yeah. Male: So, what are your biggest challenges in reaching your goals that you would say for yourself? Mike: My biggest challenge, and my girl can vouch for me on that, spending money. That’s my biggest challenge. I get a check from Social Security even though it’s, like I get $251 on the 1st and I get $502 on the 4th and my biggest challenge is just going and blowing it. Not just on her, but I’m getting stuff I don’t really need. So I’m getting more stuff then I need, then stuff that I need. Like I do take care of myself and my girl, but I get mostly like stuff that like I choose to get and I’m trying to get less of the stuff that I choose to get and more of the stuff that I need. I can pay a little by little just to get my stuff, my want stuff and use like 10% just to go on me, but I don’t do that, I get money and I blow it. Male: Why is that, why would you say that is? Mike: Because I have an addiction to spending money. It’s a girl’s addiction, but I’m still addicted to it. Male: I understand. I can relate. Mike: That’s just how it is, it’s just like my money situation, I’m seeing if there’s like a budgeting classes. Like she holds on my bank card and I’m like can you do me a favor? Male: Have you ever been to budgeting class? Mike: No. Male: Is that something that you think would be helpful to you or something that you would be interested in or something like that, some type of class? Mike: Something that might, give me some advice on what to do so I’m not spending. Male: Financial management? Mike: I will have a budget of like $20 to $40 to keep on me and I will blow that in one day. I have her holding on to my debit card, I took out from the bank, I took out $100 cash, it was gone it two days with stuff I don’t really need, stuff I want. Like these, for instance, those I don’t really need. I can always those little cheap [inaudible] models instead I buy packs of cigarettes and sometimes alcohol. Male: So you think some type of support around helping you with your finances would be helpful if you had like a mentor or somebody that can help you with that? Mike: She does too, like if she knows I’m going to buy something, she will be like, like if she sees, if we’re at the store and I’m getting her something to eat and she sees me looking at the menu if I’m at a restaurant, she’s like are you sure? ---PAGE BREAK--- That’s expensive. She’s like why don’t you get something cheaper, I’m like, you know what, good idea. Like we had a fight one time because I don’t want to say it, but it’s a money thing. It’s about me spending money [inaudible] she worries. Male: She knows what your goals are. Mike: Yeah. Male: What you need. Mike: I’m looking for a place in the eastside area right now. Male: So this group that has come together is looking for solutions to help people or just to try to help to make this area a safe, nice area. So that want to make sure that those who are homeless out here… Mike: Not that safe, I got a black eye, so. Male: Oh, is that right? Mike: It was right here, you can see it healing off. Male: Is there anything that you would like these folks to know about the needs out here and what would help people who are in your situation? Mike: Yeah, people need to stop dogging on homeless people. Male: What does that mean? Mike: Frowning on homeless people, people need to stop disrespecting homeless people because everybody is human. So there’s three changes that might help make; that I have as an idea to make this a safer and better, not just safer, but better environment. We need to get rid of all the hard core drug dealers; that’s my opinion, I hate those guys. We need to get rid of all the crime rate that’s happening here. When I first came here, everybody was friendly, now there’s people like, oh, I’m going to do this, I’m going to jump you, hurting people. So crime rate, people need to stop with that. People need to stop dealing hard core drugs. I know that’s probably not what you are asking me. Male: No, I want to answer. Mike: People need to stop littering around here; that’s just my personal opinion because I hate walking around trying to enjoy this nature and finding like, yeah, I drink but I hate finding beer cans and alcohol bottles all over the ground. Yeah, I drink, it’s not like I’m going to throw it on the ground or nothing and most importantly, we need to get the cops off our case. They’re always on our backs, they hate homeless people is my opinion. Most importantly we need the cops off; although I’m speaking for all the homeless people that I’m saying this. I’m not saying this for me because personally, I don’t care because they can be man’s best friend, I was speaking for me and everybody out there; cops need to keep off our case. ---PAGE BREAK--- Male: Is this something that people talk about, the cops? Mike: People talk about; I’ve been harassed but the cops. It’s not for people doing what they do, it’s because cops, they mess around with anybody who’s homeless. They see a homeless person, oh, I’m going to mess with them. That’s what it seems like. Can’t camp anywhere without; if a cop catches you, you have to get up even if it’s six o’clock in the morning, you’re still trying to sleep. People littering around here, it’s kind of ridiculous because you’re going on the ground; you’re seeing a whole lot. It makes us look bad, even non-homeless people throw stuff on the ground and it just makes us look bad. Most importantly more support and more programs and that’s pretty much about it. Male: What type of programs do you think specifically would help a lot of people? Or you can even just speak to your case or stuff that you know that people may need. Like what type of support, if was people in this group that was influential, they have either sometime of influence or some type; that had the resources to create whatever that you think would be helpful to people, what should they create? What would that look like? Mike: More drug and alcohol classes like, me, I would never take one, but I’m speaking for not just me though, you know that, right? Male: But do you think people would go to them? Mike: I’ve see a lot of people go to them all the way in Seattle, but we need to have more of those in the eastside. That way people doesn’t have to all the way to Seattle. We need more of those classes. Male: Is there a certain type of approach that you would go to if you needed those classes? I mean that’s different then, or is it just strictly those classes if they were around? Mike: I don’t do drugs. If they were around, people would go. I know that because I have a couple of friends trying to go. Male: That want to get off drugs? Mike: Yes, me, I don’t do hard core drugs, I only stick with my alcohol, cigarettes and green. But I should not have said the green in public. It’s being recorded. But we more of those classes and programs to help people get a job. Like I said, I’m not just speaking for me. I’m trying to help everybody else out get off the street. Like more programs because some of the people on the street can’t get a job. We need like a, if you guys to do like a job school for some homeless people that’s trying to get a job, maybe people would get a job better and get off the street. So even before I was homeless, I was being recorded just to help the homeless say what we need. Male: I appreciate you taking this time to share with me. Mike: No, I love to talk, I’ll talk to anybody if they want to talk about something, just talk to me.