Archive for April, 2010
Finally, some good news from the world of homeless Americans!
Once in a great while we have the pleasure of passing along a “Feel Good” story. We will be dedicating part of this page to the story of a formerly homeless IT worker. Beginning around June 2009, this resourceful man (who goes by the name of Rob) became homeless and started to live out of his “beater” car, as he so affectionately calls it. He took with him what possessions he needed for his basic survival, as well as a laptop computer, video camcorder and other items one would not normally associate with a homeless person. While driving aimlessly around NJ, he decided to steal wireless internet access from homes, utilize wireless hotspots, and to begin blogging about his experiences. One can follow his fascinating – sometimes somber, sometimes upbeat – account of life on the road and his attempts at salvaging his IT career.
His Blog is located at: www.outsourcedandhomeless.com
Here we see a person who, despite some not-so-subtle undertones of “giving up,” was able to keep fighting until he found a way out of his predicament. We found the image of the park bench from his blog so poignant that we incorporated it into this story (We don’t think he’ll mind us copying it).
This past January, we decided to contact Rob in the hopes of meeting him in person. Grudgingly, he gave us his cell phone number and consented to a meeting with myself and a staff photographer. We met up with him in the not-so-safe town of East Orange, NJ. at what appeared to be a construction site of some sort in a very run down area of town. After chatting awhile about the circumstances of his homelessness and his plans for getting his life back on track, he consented to some photos. We took photos of Rob, his car, and the surrounding area. Not a pretty site. What appeared to be a polluted stream ran behind the area, and the houses and buildings were ramshackle and dilapidated. A pit bull was also roaming around unleashed. So, after talking with him for about 30 minutes, my photographer and I thanked him for his time and wished him well. We told him to keep an eye out for a feature article on our website.
So, fast-forward 5 months to mid May 2010. We had been working on some other stories and had not gotten a chance to post our story and photos of Rob. When we looked at his latest blog post, we were surprised and heartened to see a video of him moving into his new (and quite nice!) apartment. He had managed to find a way to make some money – no, not just SOME money, some REAL money, and, in relatively short order. This was quite astonishing.
I called him again and he picked up the phone. I could immediately hear a change in his voice. It was no longer one of monotonous resignation. There was a sense of vivaciousness and joie de vivre, something seemingly impossible only four months earlier. Not only had he survived his ordeal, he had found a way to become self sufficient, and, according to him, to actually begin making VERY good money online. He said that when we had met him, he had just begun to try a few new things.
First, in order to get started, he needed a quick source of cash – something he thought was impossible considering his situation. Ultimately, he found a program called “60 Minute Payday”. This is a program whereby one can get their hands on some quick cash with NO credit approval. He applied for the maximum and got approved for $1500 which was wired into his checking account immediately.
“I desperately needed this money. I had a huge minimum payment on my only credit card. I also had my cell phone bill plus the essentials of food and gas. “
Rob told me that once he got his hands on this cash, he decided to try something which had piqued his interest for some time – namely, Forex (Foreign Exchange) trading.
“Because one can trade on tremendous margins, the ability exists to make a gigantic return on your investment – assuming you know what you are doing and use a good trading platform. I started out with only $200.00 on the eToro platform. After a few days and some good trades, I started to see my precious money growing. I have to credit the application (eToro) for much of this success. I am NOT a professional Forex Trader but this software made it easy. I have since moved on to a couple of other pieces of software – trading platforms. They are called Telechart and Forex Tracer. It is the latter which I am using for Forex Trading”.
At this point, Rob had piqued my interest to such an extent that I simply had to ask how much he had grown that initial $200.00. He said that after 3 weeks he was up to approximately $3000!
He continued, “think about it the possibilities! I am NOT a professional trader and I was living out of my lousy car yet I was able to make a substantial return on my small investment. I cannot possibly recommend Forex Tracer and the 60 Minute Payday highly enough. I just wish I would have known years ago about the potential for Fx trading to change my life so profoundly. I would never have become homeless. In fact, I would have QUIT my job without hesitation, rather than sit there just WAITING for the day when my job would be outsourced to India.”
Rob’s enthusiasm over his sudden change of fate was palpable. He continued…
“The quick cash was absolutely essential to my success. Without it, I might not have been able to hold out much longer, much less trade currencies. If I can do this while living out my car like this with my limited resources, I think anyone can benefit from one or both of these programs.”
Rob then asked me if we might be willing to put a couple of links to these programs within this article? I told him, “Absolutely.”
He continued, “I don’t mean that homeless people, even if they somehow have the means, should try this approach. I would feel terrible if it didn’t work out for them and they lost what little precious money they had. I think these things are better suited for people who need some extra cash or who want out of the 9-5 rat race entirely.
I fully expect to make at least $5,500 next month. Basically, the sky’s the limit now for me. I don’t have to work on a laptop while in the back of a cold, cramped car. I can work from home in a real office like a normal human being. Heck, I can even resume working on my financial application now that I have some disposable income. I suppose I will be getting rid of the Kia any day now (God bless it)”.
—————————————————————————————————
This should serve as an example that ANYONE CAN DO THIS. LEARN FROM THIS GUY! Try to take some inspiration from him and channel it towards your own personal fulfillment.
He didn’t turn to drugs or booze – he kept fighting, kept trying different things until he found a formula which worked for him.
We hope that this story can serve as an inspiration to not only those homeless souls we keep in our hearts and minds, but people everywhere, employed or not. It is a lesson in fortitude, survival, and the triumph of the human spirit. How nice to hear a story like this given the present state of the economy. Take care Rob and congratulations on your success!
Stephen Pierce – TheHomelessAdvocate.com
More photos of “IT Rob” from www.outsourcedandhomeless.com
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