Story and Photos by Giles Clasen

Paul is a man who can’t escape his past, even as he pushes to move forward and climb out of homelessness.

“I’ve got a lot of regrets,” Paul said. “You know, going back, looking back doesn’t do you any good. You got to keep on keeping on, but it isn’t easy when those regrets of your past keep getting in the way of any possible future.”

The mistakes that keep him trapped and without options are two felony convictions. These limit his opportunities to find a job and housing.

Paul said the first strike against him was because of alcohol. He started drinking at a young age, and his habit grew slowly, becoming a problem before he realized what was happening. He joined the Army in 1984, right out of high school and worked his way up the ranks. He joined the Special Force at the beginning of the Gulf War in 1990, and he didn’t like what he saw in the United States, once he was deployed.

“The United States runs around the world claiming to do good, but I saw it. I saw us imposing our will on other countries,” Paul said. “We’re actually the terrorists of the world, in a lot of ways. We’re going around the world taking what we want and not caring about the costs on other people.”

By the time Paul returned to Fort Bragg in North Carolina, he was drinking more, and he got a DUI.

“They took my security clearance right away. I had a top secret they pulled because they can’t trust a drunk. I don’t blame them for that,” Paul said.

He left the military because he felt his career in the Army was over. Not long after, Paul and his wife split. They were fighting constantly and Paul felt isolated, away from his family in Los Angeles.

“My wife and I were arguing so much. I just said, ‘I’m taking off.’ I had to leave my wife, or things were going to get much, much worse, real bad for all of us. I didn’t want my little children seeing that.”

Paul moved to Denver to live with family. At this point, Paul believes he had become a full-blown alcoholic. He was arrested after an altercation for felony menacing and attempted assault.

According to Paul, he threatened someone in an altercation to defend himself. He didn’t touch or take aswing and walked away. But the threat was all that mattered. Those few words were seen as acts of violence by the court. He spent three years in jail and on parole. During that time, he gave up alcohol and tried to chart a new course. He said he didn’t have any troubles during those three years, but the damage was done and he had two felonies on his record.

“Bam! They put a black cloud over me. I tried to find a decent job, I tried to pay my own way,” Paul said. “I wanted to work hard, but nobody would hire me after that. Nobody would give me a chance. I was living in a whole new world where every door was shut to me with those felony convictions.”

Paul said his new reality had little to no opportunities and ultimately condemned him to the streets.

The felonies have prevented him from finding a job. No one would hire him. The felonies also have prevented him from finding housing. No one wanted to take a risk renting to a person who had been convicted of a violent crime.

“My only option is Section 8 and government support. When you take away someone’s ability to get a job there is no choice. The government has to pay to support them, to house them, and to feed them,” Paul said.

Paul would like to go back to work and create purpose for himself. He doesn’t like the idle time on the streets. He doesn’t like having frostbitten toes in the winter and facing heat stroke in the summer. He would like a home with walls and a roof to replace his makeshift tent. But he is running out of hope.

“I’m healthy,” Paul said. “I’m 57 years old. I can work if someone would give me a chance and give me a job. But that felony, I don’t know. I don’t know if I’ll be stuck here the rest of my life.”

Charting a new course

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