Imagine living on the streets without identification, feeling like an invisible piece of society. This story is an account of my experiences with one such man.

I met Chris last year while living in Norfolk, Virginia at 80/20 Burger Bar where he’d come in to get out of the cold, drink a Coca Cola, and watch football games. Chris was born and raised in Norfolk and loves the Washington Redskins, like REALLY loves them. And while I’m not a huge sports fanatic, I’ve always been a football fan. I played football at the age of 12 and continued playing through high school. There’s also some nostalgia from watching games on Sunday afternoons with my Dad; him in his La-Z Boy, me on the sofa with a blanket. So Chris and I had a connection, we talked about the teams, the games, playoff possibilities, etc. The first time we hung out I learned Chris was homeless, he slept wrapped up in blankets in the bushes not a ¼ mile away from where we were sitting…warm and dry at the bar.

Chris is a happy and polite man who often cracks jokes, and always asks me how I’m doing. He’s a really warm and outgoing individual. One of the most interesting things about Chris is his knowledge of Astrology. He knows interesting details about every sign, including the dates they begin and end, who each sign is compatible and incompatible with, character traits, etc. It’s always fun to hear him talk with people and ask them about their birthday. Chris doesn’t drink, doesn’t use drugs, always says please and thank you, gives hugs, and doesn’t beg for anything. As time went by we started talking more about his situation. He really wanted to get off the street, get a job, find a place to live, take care of his needs…you know, stuff most of us take for granted.

One of the reasons he hasn’t been able to get a job is because he doesn’t have an Identification Card (ID). He couldn’t stay at the homeless shelter without an ID, and the shelters are where a lot of the services homeless folks can tap into are located. They can help with employment, housing, etc. When I met him he didn’t have a birth certificate, Social Security card, or any documentation to prove who he was. So besides giving him some pocket money for something to eat I saw this as an opportunity to help him start to get on his feet. That was it, we had to get his Virginia ID.
This story seeks to convey how extremely difficult this process can be, especially for someone without means to provide the required documentation and travel all over the place on foot.
We scheduled a time that week to meet up so I could accompany him to the Department of Motor Vehicles (DMV), an easy 15 minute drive across town, but it would have taken him hours by foot and bus. It didn’t look good from the beginning, as Virginia requires two forms of ID to get an ID, and without even so much as a birth certificate there wasn’t much we could do, but we had to start somewhere. In order to get a birth certificate you have to have an ID and vice versa, a total catch-22. The people at the DMV were nice and all, but they really couldn’t do anything to help Chris. They handed him a piece of paper with the required documents he needed. Check it out Here.  It’s a huge laundry list of items, none of which he had. The only way he could get a copy of his birth certificate was is if his Mother requested it, and Chris hasn’t really been on great speaking terms with his Mom. I don’t pepper him with questions about the situation. To make things more challenging, without a physical address he was pretty much screwed. He doesn’t have a bank account, a residence, passport….nada. The only thing there was a possibility of obtaining was a copy of his high school transcripts, which were were able to get by driving to his old high school in Chesapeake, another several hour walk/bus ride ordeal had we not had a car. Chris hadn’t been there in 20 years, and while we were there he ran into one of his old teachers. Chris lit up and gave her a hug, it was an emotional thing to witness. So yeah, we finally had one document from the list, but still no means of proving his physical address. I couldn’t simply let him use my address because his name isn’t on my lease, and those bushes where he sleeps don’t have mailboxes attached to them.

Weeks go by and Chris was finally able to get a copy of his birth certificate thanks to his Mother after I’d left several phone messages for her. So we now had the proof of identification documents required, but still no way to prove physical address. Since this all began back in November, it’s almost February now, we’ve been to the DMV four times, his high school, and to Social Services. On the third DMV trip I pleaded with the manager to make an exception because he really couldn’t prove his address. She agreed to use his childhood address and my PO Box as a secondary mailing address.

From here it gets even more complicated. Several years ago Chris’s identity was compromised when another man used Chris’s name to get a Virginia ID. I’m not sure how that happened, but it did. The DMV wouldn’t issue Chris a new ID until his record was clear. DMV investigators now had to get involved. The following week I received a phone call from a DMV Special Agent asking about the situation. He said he needed to speak with Chris to get info on who the identity thief was; Chris knew who the dude was. I had no way to contact Chris because he doesn’t own a cell phone, which obviously has made this whole situation more complicated. It was a waiting game from then on, just like most of this has been. When I have a goal I like to do whatever it takes to get it done, but in this case I had to wait to run into Chris in my neighborhood. He often hung out at a nearby 24 hour IHOP so I’d go there frequently to ask Lisa, the General Manager and super nice person, if she’d seen him around. I finally ran into Chris while eating at the Grilled Cheese bistro in downtown Norfolk. Thank god for those window seats or I’d never have seen him walking down the sidewalk on the opposite side of the street. We called up the special agent and Chris provided all the info he needed. Within a few days his record was cleared and we were good to go for finally getting his ID. Fourth time to the DMV and success!

Almost…

The DMV sent his ID to my PO Box, but since Chris’s name wasn’t on my box the post office returned it to Richmond. Chris had to call Richmond in order to request they resend it. I added him to my PO Box so it wouldn’t get sent back again. Weeks go by as I wait to run into Chris so we could call Richmond. Last week we finally got it all sorted out and today, three months after this whole thing started, Chris finally got his ID!!!
This whole ordeal had really made me think about how difficult it is for our less fortunate neighbors to accomplish even the smallest tasks we take for granted, and in this case would have been impossible except for the DMV manager who let Chris slide on using my PO Box for a mailing address. I mean, shit, everyone hates going to the DMV, but I’ll never complain again about having to wait at the DMV for two hours to renew something.

We celebrated with some KFC, Chris’s favorite, and a fresh new haircut. It’d been a year since he got a nice trim and man does he look great! Thanks to the kick ass folks at Lionshead Barbershop in Ocean View. Of course he talked with the barber about football for 20 minutes, then the discussion changed to favorite rappers. Chris brought up Lil’ Wayne and the barber said, “Man, the last time he was on top was when he had the top bunk in prison.” Everyone in the place was laughing pretty good.

Now it’s time to get this man a place to live and a job!!!