3 Stories of Christmas 2010 in USA
19 December 2010
Sharon and Jeffrey Davis at a shelter in Arlington, Virginia. They are currently homeless, but hope that will soon change.
FAITH LAPIDUS: Welcome to THIS IS AMERICA in VOA Special English. I’m Faith Lapidus.
This week on our program we hear from some Americans about Christmas past, present and future.
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FAITH LAPIDUS: Jeffrey Davis remembers Christmas two years ago at his former home in Arlington, Virginia, outside Washington.
JEFFREY DAVIS: “We had a great Christmas tree -- nice presents, with family, friends, loved ones, people you want to be around because it only happens once a year. And that’s when everybody actually gathers to be amongst one another. Relatives you haven’t seen all year, on Christmas.”
Mr. Davis is fifty years old. He has a friendly personality and a big smile, except that he recently fell and broke four teeth and a leg.
Jeffrey Davis and his wife, Sharon, are living on the streets. They became homeless two years ago. He says it was not the economy or the problems in the housing market that put them there.
JEFFREY DAVIS: “Actually I got sick. I’m a very bad diabetic. I’m on eight hundred units of insulin a day. I developed diabetes really bad and I couldn’t work. So that's what put me in the situation that I’m in now. Prior to that, I was working, self-sufficient, everything was fine. Until I got sick.”
Mr. Davis says he lost his job as a restaurant chef after he got sick.
JEFFREY DAVIS: “I was actually sleeping outside. I went without my insulin for like four or five months at one time because I couldn't afford to buy it and I didn’t have any insurance.”
But a local group came to his aid. The Arlington Street People’s Assistance Network is also known as A-SPAN. It began in nineteen ninety-one. It works to get people off the streets and into permanent housing.
At night, A-SPAN case workers search local woods, streets, parks and other places for people in need of shelter.
That is how the Street Outreach Staff met Jeffrey and Sharon Davis. Over time A-SPAN workers gained the couple’s trust. The Davises began to stop by the group's shelter for food and other assistance.
The staff also helped connect Mr. Davis with the right county services so he could get his insulin. And when the weather is cold -- as it is now -- the couple can spend the night in a shelter.
A-SPAN also works with other groups. This time of year, they try to make the holiday season brighter for homeless people like the Davises.
A-SPAN holds a party for the people it serves. The group provides transportation to the event. This year's party is Monday, December twentieth, in a room at a church near the shelter.
A-SPAN employee Sarah Morse says about one hundred twenty-five clients are expected to attend. She says there will be food, gifts and music.
SARAH MORSE: “Last year, one of our staff members actually brought his own guitar and amplifier and led us in several rounds of song, Christmas songs and holiday songs. And that was really fun. We hope to have some lively music again this year.”
Sarah Morse says another popular event is the party raffle. When clients arrive, they each get a ticket with a number. After the meal, winning numbers are called. Prizes include things like gift cards, duffel bags to hold belongings, and hair cuts.
Ms. Morse says the Arlington Street People's Assistance Network also teams with businesses and groups for other holiday events.
SARAH MORSE: “So, for example, on Christmas morning, a local pancake house is hosting a Christmas morning breakfast. Then we also have a group in Arlington called the Arlington Interfaith Council, and they provide a Christmas dinner every year. These things are really great because they happen right on the holidays, right on Christmas Day.”
Jeffrey and Sharon Davis hope to go to the holiday events. But they hope for a much bigger gift in January.
The couple is in the process to receive a special housing grant from Arlington County. If all goes as planned, they could be in a home of their own again next month.
JEFFREY DAVIS: “And that would be a great Christmas present. So, we’re praying and hoping everything falls into place.”
And, as he tells reporter Caty Weaver, if those prayers are answered, he knows exactly what he would do next December.
JEFFREY DAVIS: "For next Christmas, I’m coming back and volunteer for A-SPAN and give back some of what they gave me. I think that’s only right, I think that’s only fair. If I give back something just as well as they gave me, it’ll be a great Christmas.”
REPORTER: “And a little tree in the new home?”
JEFFREY DAVIS: “A tree in the new home, some gifts under the tree. Some family members can come to where I lay my head and enjoy my home as well.”
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Sharing Christmas with family and friends is traditional. It is especially important to the Cerqueira family. Maria and Abel moved from Portugal twenty-five years ago and raised their two children in the United States. But they left much family behind in Portugal, and still feel a strong connection to their homeland.
Maria and Abel Cerqueira, visiting their hometown in northern Portugal earlier this year