“I’ve been in Mobile for 38 years. I’ve had several different jobs, but this job with BID Services in downtown Mobile is the one that I really like. I went through vocational rehab with Goodwill Gulf Coast to get this job, and I’ve been here since June 17th, 2015. I’m going to retire from here. I like to make the downtown area pretty, clean and safe so people are happy to be here.

I have been landscaping since I was 16. I take care of the flowers, but I like to meet and greet. You make someone’s day just by saying good morning or asking how are you doing today? People ask for recommendations. But I ask them questions first to find out what they are looking for. I make suggestions from there.

When I moved here 38 years ago, downtown was boarded up. Now there are restaurants, activities, concerts and many things to do downtown.

BID Services takes care of 75 city blocks from Civic Center Drive to Water Street and St. Joseph. We work in a fishbowl–people can watch from 360 degrees. You don’t know who is looking down at you from the office buildings, so we have to assume we are being watched at all times.

I lost my mother seventeen years ago and my father seven months ago. You don’t know what tomorrow brings. I talked to my dad on Wednesday, the next day I got a phone call that he was gone. Now I’m on my own.

I’ve had my ups and downs. I was once homeless. I lived in a garage in Chickasaw after I was evicted from my home. I lost everything, including my dog. A good friend and her dog have stuck with me through all of this.

I didn’t have a car, so I walked, biked, and took the bus to work for five and a half years.  I don’t like to be late, so I get to work early.  Work starts at 7 a.m. so I’m normally here at 6:30. When I rode the bus, I caught the five a.m. bus so if it broke down I wouldn’t be late. I usually got to work at 5:35 and sit on the porch until somebody showed up.

I bought a car with proceeds from my father’s estate, but I still take the bus every once in a while. I am close to buying a house that I can call my own. I have saved and I’m prepared, but I have to find one.

I don’t meet strangers, and my job is my ministry. I see men sitting on the curb at Wings of Life and I go there on my lunch break to encourage them. I am an alcoholic. One day I woke up as I was driving off the road. I didn’t get hurt and didn’t get a DUI, but it scared me. That was about 32 years ago. I haven’t had a drink since. God was with me. You quit drinking, but never recover from being an alcoholic.

I have a disability, but I don’t consider myself disabled. I grew up with a learning disability and I overcame that. I had a speech impediment and I overcame that. I don’t look at my hearing as a disability. Hearing aids are so expensive, and I couldn’t afford them for a long time. But I’m saving and will soon buy my own hearing aid without help from the state.

I’ve made a lot of progress over the years. I once got temporary jobs through Labor Finders. On the days I didn’t get jobs, I knocked on doors and told myself that one day I would have a permanent job. I was lucky to have people who believed in me who helped make that happen.  I was elected small business employee of the year by the Governor’s Association

I didn’t want everyday money from a temp job. I wanted a steady job that paid my bills. I haven’t missed a paycheck since, and I have good benefits. I want to take care of myself in retirement.

I also have a part-time job and work for a pool company on  the weekends. The owner is one of the first people I met when we moved to Mobile. He treats me like family.  I don’t have free time.  All I do is eat, sleep and work.

My advice is to be on time for your job. Be there when they need you, and do the best you can. Sometimes you have to go above and behind what people expect. I try to do that every day. I’m still going up my mountain, but I am almost to the top.”

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The Our Southern Souls book is on sale at The Haunted Book Shop and Ashland Gallery in Mobile. It’s at Page and Palette, Melt and More, and The Fairhope Store in Fairhope. It’s also available online at www.BuyOur SouthernSouls.com