Ron Cullen - 51

When I first met Ron Cullen, he was sitting at the smoking area of Next Step shelter, puffing on a hand rolled cigarette. He sat there quietly, almost sleeping at times, while I sat and conversed with another gentleman about Hawaii colleges. When he woke up to roll another cigarette, I began to realize what a hidden gem he was and what a story he had. Ron is 51 years old and a native Californian, originating out of Pasadena. Living there almost his whole life, he worked in the IT field, employed with a company called Earthlink for three years. In 2003, Earthlink decided to sell a number of IT jobs to India, giving people like Ron two months to prepare for the inevitable layoff. Working in the computer industry, he knew he needed refresher courses, so he began to attend Microsoft certification classes. Unfortunately, his mom became sick and died in 2004. This delayed his ability to finish the Microsoft courses and when he sold his mother’s house, he decided to take the money and move to Hawaii, the island of Kauai to be exact.

At the age of 45, Ron knew it was time to begin anew, so he started going door to door, offering his computer knowledge to those that needed it. When this didn’t exactly pan out as planned, he took up a contract with a company called Coinstar and a DVD rental company for three years. Eventually, after three years, the money ran out and almost at the same time, he lost the contract to Coinstar. He almost immediately became homeless in Kauai and tried to make it there. When he realized there was a serious lack of opportunity on such a small island, he moved to Oahu in May 2010, hopeful for a chance at finding a job.

Oahu itself wasn’t as welcoming as he had first hoped. Within the first five weeks, he had five phones, his electric guitar, bike and $180 stolen from him. He immediately had to become street smart, finding the need to protect himself from the competition that Oahu seems to hold within the homeless community. He created his own place to live in Kaka’ako Park, but in March 2011 the state government removed all of the homeless people in Kaka’ako, forcing Ron to finally take shelter at Next Step. While he isn’t a big fan of the rules, he says staying at a shelter is useful. It’s impossible to find a job without a shower, decent clothes or even an address. He hopes that staying here will benefit his long term goals of having a job and a place to live.