Things Are Looking Up: Kirk in His Own Words
I came to Minnesota on a wing and a prayer. I didn’t know a soul here. I came here hoping and believing things would work out. After a few knockdowns, I’m starting to see some daylight. Home, business, car. Lost them. It didn’t work out.
Then, insert COVID-19. Can you imagine?
The health care system was inundated. Social services were stressed to the limit when they could be accessed at all. Jobs closed. Transit halted. Winter closing in. When things got bad, I was down to clothes and a bicycle. In ten years, I moved six times, four of those six times I had lost everything and had to start from scratch.
I was at the point of giving up. Then I met James at MACV. James got me a bed. Got an ironing board, pots, pans. He convinced me of a simple truth: quitting isn’t something you want to do for yourself.
I sat back and thought about it. I still got breath in my body. I think I ought to give it another shot. How could you give up on yourself? Against all odds, why not? I had the nerve to give it another shot.
I’m just glad things are looking up. It’s working out for me. The military taught me to survive. Now I’ve got to be smart.
What MACV brought to my attention was that I’m no longer a young stud. I’m 57 years old. I’m not able to leap tall buildings in a single bound anymore. I thought, “Maybe these guys are right.”
At this point some restrictions were lifted, and I started temp jobs for any money. Then after that I got a call from this disability law firm. I answered questions. I got on disability. They gave me an income. Restrictions became more lifted, housing people at MACV got me to do the applications – I got approved.
Now I’m going to be saving money, building credit, getting references, moving on, moving up. I’m going to sit here and be patient. Work hard when I get that chance. I’m the type of person that looks at things and sees the positive. This isn’t where I want to be, but it’s better than I was. Like I was back in the Army, at Northshore in Hawaii, riding the waves in. MACV and I worked together, I moved into my new place last Wednesday.
Riding that wave in.
So, yeah, that’s where I’m at. Submitting job applications, returning calls about my resume.
MACV works for Veterans. Seek them out, listen to what they can do, decide based on what you hear. They helped me a lot. Really.
-Kirk, U.S. Army Veteran
