Portrait of Homelessness 

Putting a name and story with the faces we see everyday

Frank Forester, 45

BY SUSAN MITCHELL

In 2005, Frank Forester came home from his restaurant prep cook job in Colorado Springs and found his wife dead. She had hanged herself. He’s still trying to get rid of the image of cutting the rope, holding her in his arms, then calling 911. The emotional distress caused Forester to quit his job. “I sold my home so I could bury her and took a bus to Boston to see my aunts and uncles,” said Forester.

His travels led him to Denver and back to Colorado Springs, where a pastor gave him a one-way bus ticket to Orlando. He worked trimming trees in Orlando where he found people unfriendly.  “I’m kind to everyone and want everyone to be the same to me,” said Forester.

He said the hotels and restaurants wanted to hire younger people so he walked to South Beach where the waiting list at the homeless shelter was six months.  Forester came to Key West on Oct. 20 where he was in the Sober House for 20 days. Their hours there didn’t allow him to work a restaurant job because the curfew was 11 p.m.

“I got a job at Outback Steakhouse,” he said. “I’m an alcoholic, and have been drinking since I was 8 years old. Here, in Key West, I got into a relationship with a woman who drank. We drank our money away and I didn’t show up for work and was fired, rightfully so. It was my fault, I was stupid.”

Forester found sobriety again and opportunity at another popular restaurant on Duval Street, where he works noon – 9:30 p.m.  He’s proud to keep all three lines prepped with food. Forester likes the restaurant owner and his co-workers. He rides his bicycle round trip eight miles.  Forester volunteers at KOTS homeless shelter mopping the floors and helping with laundry every morning before riding to the restaurant.

When not working at the restaurant and volunteering cleaning KOTS, Forester draws cartoons. He has thousands of cartoons titled with the acronym FACES: Friends Always Can Equal Smiles. He hopes to publish a book of cartoons someday. A man of faith, Forester said FACES also stands for Faith And Christ Can Equal Salvation.

Forester said he’s saving money to rent or buy a place to live and start his life all over. “I was a stable, hard working man and home owner for 13 years and I will be again,” said Forester. “I’m strong, I know I can get back on my feet.”

 

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