Men's stories cast light on W.S. homeless

By Jacob Becker and Edward Mazzu
BengalNews Reporters         

            Jose Calderon was born in the Bronx before his mother sent him to Buffalo to live in foster care when he was just four years old. 
            Jaye Perry was born in Buffalo and was raised by his abusive grandfather before Child Protective Services took him away at the age of 7. 
             Now, both homeless, Calderon and Perry have formed an inseparable bond as they navigate the streets of the West Side pooling any resources  and struggling to find food and shelter every day. 
             “I’m so used to the streets that it’s hard for me to cope with trusting people,” said Calderon, 37, who alluded to being ripped off countless times while looking for a place to stay. “I drift around to wherever I can have a good time and spend the night. I’ve basically been like that my whole life.” 
              Calderon, who is HIV positive, claims he has earned some notoriety on the streets of Buffalo because of his involvement with the HIV Starts With Me campaign that featured him on several billboards throughout Buffalo.

   

 

Jaye Perry and Jose Calderon, while currently struggling on the streets, once lived a better life.  Both men have now bonded together in hopes of one day having a place to call their own.

            “Everybody knows me,” said Calderon who claims he always has options for a place to stay. “I can walk to the corner and I bet you at least 100 people are going to say hi to me.” 
            Until he met up with Calderon about six months ago, Perry, 27, didn’t have that luxury. A former drug dealer on the West Side, Perry spent most of his youth in and out of juvenile facilities before eventually doing some hard time in prison. Both men admitted to having been molested several times as children.

            Most nights the two men walk to Friends of Night People, located at 394 Hudson St., where they are provided a free hot meal and a much-needed respite from a life on the street, even if only for a few hours a day.

            “The Friends of the Night People do provide a place for people who don’t really have much and have come so far,” said an emotional Perry. “There are people out here just like us who had the world and now they’re pushing bottles in a cart to get a cigarette and pay someone to let them spend the night.”

            As the two men layered up on clothing and prepared to head back out to the streets, they still had no idea where they would lay there head down to rest for the night.

            “We won’t know until the sun goes down,” said Perry, “But we make the most out of whatever we do, and try put it to the best use.” 

             He mentioned that the most common form of shelter comes by way of charity from friends and people they meet in their travels.

            Things, however, are starting to look up for the duo. Perry claims he is days away from securing a steady place to stay on Vermont Street and Calderon currently works weekends at a Tim Horton’s doing maintenance. They plan on moving in together and working hard to stay off the streets.

            Calderon, who seemed to be the decision maker of the two, vowed to lead a life that was crime free and where both men can earn an honest living.

            “Maybe one day I would like to live a good life, you know?” said Calderon. “We can pay bills together, go out to dinner or a movie, maybe throw a party or whatever.” Edited by Ann Hendricks