Vendor Profile: Larry Hall

By Sarah Ford

Larry Hall (Credit: Sarah Ford)

When Larry Hall moved to Denver, he thought everything was prepared: he had a Colorado driver’s license, he’d arranged a mailing address, and he was looking for the best way to transition into housing. 

But his plans fell through, and when Larry arrived from Little Rock, Arkansas, he ended up spending some of his first nights in Denver in a park near the 16th Street Mall. 

Larry still has nowhere to live and spends his nights on the streets, but despite the setbacks, he says he is happy. 

“I’ve been trying to move to Denver since 2014,” says Larry. “Not only because of the disposition of the people, but they’re more intelligent; food is plentiful here, people are nicer and try to help. Citizens in Denver are just flat out good people.”

Helping is something he knows a lot about. 

Larry served in the military from 2007 to 2010, starting out in regular combat. But he says a Captain gave him a new direction when she noticed his insistence on helping those wounded in the field. She told him he was born to be a medic, so that’s what he started working toward. 

“Saving lives is the best feeling you can get,” Larry says. “I’ve killed people in combat ... that don’t feel half as good as reviving someone and saving their life.”

He began studying in the army and since returning to civilian life, he has read a great number of texts about the medical field. He still uses the skills he’s learned now, and hopes to use more in the future. If he can, Larry says he would love to find a job as a doctor’s assistant or dentist’s assistant, where he can continue to develop his medical skills. 

But for now he is happy continuing to find whatever ways he can to help those in need. 

 “I don’t care if I just need to give them burritos or something, maybe that will save somebody’s life,” Larry says. “But that’s what I’m really concentrating on because that’s the best feeling you can get.” ■