Rico Sharp, a former homeless youth turned motivational speaker, encounters Garrison, a 21-year-old sleeping in a Starbucks, and gives him $20. Rico shares his own homelessness story and encourages Garrison to contact family, find a church, and seek shelter at The Mission in Sanford.
Chapters
Hey, good morning. It's Rico, and I am at a Starbucks about to get a cup of coffee. Notice this homeless person that is sleeping at this table here at Starbucks. I've sat here for a few moments just watching a few people that passed by. Actually, quite a few people passed by, and I just kind of wanted to sit for a moment to see if anybody is going to show some compassion toward this homeless person. And, uh, after watching about a dozen people come and go, man, I just thought for a moment that it's not really likely that somebody's going to show some compassion or some care for this person. If it was a dog or a cat, it would get more attention than a human being. I don't know why, but we've, we've strayed away from our compassion for humanity. And I know I'm just one person, but I'm on a mission. Um, I don't usually carry cash on me. I went to the ATM machine and got $20 out. I'm gonna go give it to this homeless person. I don't know if they're gonna feel comfortable with me recording them or not, but— Clear the road! Here I go. I can't— I don't have a place to put them in right now to, uh, get them off the street. But man, it sure would be good for this person to know that they got money to get something to eat. You don't know unless you've been there how depressing it is for people to find themselves in this situation. You don't know what their story is and where they come from and how they ended up here. But you can rest assured they weren't always in this state. They were not always under living under these circumstances and dealing with these conditions. But here they are now, unfortunately. Some of them can't believe it, and some of them are so depressed and frustrated to their suicide and want to take their own life. But and especially just being hungry and can't feed yourself. So anyway, here we go. All right, here we go. So what's your name? My name is Garrison.
Garrison? Yeah.
Garrison, where are you from?
Uh, originally I'm from Wisconsin.
Wisconsin. How did you end up here in Florida under these circumstances?
So when I turned 18, my dad had kicked me out of the house, like no warning, just kicked me out. My stepdad, I guess, didn't want to take care of me. Um, so I bounced around between a few of my friends for For a few years until this year happened and they couldn't really hold on to me anymore. They couldn't take care of me.
Yeah, so you're now like living here in Florida. Where do you sleep? Like, I saw you sleeping here at this Starbucks, but where do you generally sleep?
At night I just sleep on the sidewalk down there.
On the sidewalk?
Normally, because it's been raining the past few nights, I've been trying to sleep in front of the ATM.
How old are you?
21.
21. Wow, man, I'm sorry that you're having to live under these circumstances. I got this $20 here. I want to give it to you. I know it's not going to get you a hotel room or anything, but at least it'll get you some food or you said your charger or something like—
Yeah, I can actually buy a charger with this.
You can buy a charger. Yeah. Yeah, cool. Can I just tell you, man, that I'm a motivational speaker and I'm also a pastor, counselor, mentor, all that. But I have a heart for homeless people. I used to be homeless. Yeah, there was a point in my life when I was a teenager that I ran off from home thinking that I was grown enough at the age of 13, 14 to do my own thing, and I found myself homeless, sleeping under trees, eating out of trash cans, and not knowing where my next meal is going to come from, waiting for people to walk off after they finish eating and go in the garbage can and pick out of the garbage can what they threw away.
Mm-hmm.
And just, that's how I survived for a while. But it's one of the things that I've learned to being homeless is that I never would give up on me. I always believed and kept dreaming that my life was going to change, that things were going to get better. And it was that belief system that kept me alive. And it got dangerous sometimes. People were shooting.
Yeah.
People were trying to take advantage of my vulnerabilities. And I survived. I got off the street. I had— it took some time. I went through some rough changes, but I want to say I just want to say to you that things are going to get better for you, man, if you just keep the faith and keep believing, believing in God or whoever your higher power is, that God is going to help you through this situation and things are going to turn around. And as frustrating, as discouraging that it gets sometimes, and as much as it, you know, looks like life is unfair, life is a fight. Life is a fight, and you got to keep fighting, and you got to keep believing in yourself. People are going to let you down. Sometimes it's going to seem like life has let you down. Sometimes it may seem like God is punishing you or God is angry at you or God doesn't love you, but none of that is going to be your truth. What is your truth? Your truth is that you believe in you.
Mm-hmm.
You believe in you. You believe that one day you're gonna get the break that you need, the open door that you need to be able to turn your life around. And even if it doesn't come through the compassion of other people, you just gotta keep reaching and digging inside to bring out of you the will and the courage to fight, to improve, your life and to make your life better. Because circumstances can change, conditions can change, and that's what you're dealing with right now. You're dealing with circumstances and conditions, but they're only temporary. They're only temporary. So do what you have to do to survive. And every chance you get, you know, if you can get a little work, save a little money.
Mm-hmm.
Get in contact with your family back home or make new friends here. Find a church or something that you can belong to. Uh, there's a shelter over in Sanford on West 13th Street called The Mission. They'll take you in, but just don't give up on you. Don't give up on you. You're 21 and you're only 21, and one day you're gonna have a story to share just like me. See, I go around sharing my story about when I was homeless, and one day— you say Robbie, right? What's your name again?
Garrison.
Garrison, I'm sorry. Garrison, one day you're gonna be able to share your story with other people about how you were homeless, but things turned around. And you'll be able to help other homeless people. And you'll be able to help other people, whether they're in school or in a drug facility dealing with addictions. You'll be able to tell people how you survived and how your life turned. And I look for you to be a success story, Garrison. One day, I look for you to be a success story. And people are gonna look at you and not even believe that you were that guy that sat out and slept out on the street. So I wish you the best, man. Can I pray for you?
Yes, sir.
All right, let me just hold your hand. Father, I pray for Garrison that you will give him everything that he needs to turn his life around. Help him to understand that life is a fight and he must not quit, but keep fighting and not give up, but keep trying and keep believing in himself. And that everything that he desires in his heart, the life that he desires, that one day It will come to pass. I thank you for Garrison and the opportunity to speak with him, and I believe in his future, and he looks a whole lot better in his future. Circumstances are a whole lot better in his future. His life has improved a whole lot better in his future than what it is right now. These things we ask, and keep him safe. Keep him safe from all harm and danger, from people who would try to take advantage of him and abuse him. Keep him safe, I pray.
Amen.
I pray these things in the name of your Son Jesus. Amen.
Amen.
I'll be seeing you around, man, but hopefully next time I see you, you'll have a little testimony of how things got better for you. All right, Garrison?
Yeah.
My name is Rico, by the way.
Nice to meet you.
All right, nice to meet you too. You take care. All right. You too, sir. Okay.
I'm gonna walk down to Publix now to go get a cord.
What's that?
I'm gonna walk down to Publix now to get a cord.
Oh, okay, good.
Good.
Yeah, Publix is right here. Cool. Great. All right, Garrison, you take care, brother. Yeah. All right. You too.
