| Cymbal Man Freq. 2005-01-31, 10:38 am |
| Seeking shelter, he went to college
Dan Wascoe, Star Tribune
January 31, 2005
Greg Staffa felt a twinge when he learned that Francisco Javier Serrano had
ducked in and out of Apple Valley High School to survive the cold.
Staffa, a 30-year-old Burnsville (Minnesota) resident, said that during nine
months in 2001 he followed a similar routine but used a different school --
Normandale Community college -- to shower, shave, eat, read and stay warm,
nearly every day.
"With a community college you could be a 40-year-old single mom or an
18-year-old man," he said. And Normandale, he said, was suitable for him because
it was not far from his job at the airport and "there are study corners all over
that place."
Unlike Serrano, he did not stay overnight in the school. He slept in his car.
He parked near 24-hour food stores so that his Mazda would be less conspicuous,
he said. He learned to suspend a blanket over his fold-down back seat so
passersby wouldn't realize he was sleeping there.
He bought humidity-absorbing crystals to prevent his windows from fogging in
cold weather -- a tipoff that someone was inside.
Since those hand-to-mouth days, which he did his best to conceal, Staffa has
resumed working for Northwest Airlines and moved into a series of apartments. In
November, he even ran for mayor of Burnsville, winning 29 percent of the vote
against the incumbent, Elizabeth Kautz, who won.
Staffa now lives with a hamster and a lobster in a one-bedroom apartment. After
nine months away from work because of injury, he recently resumed light duty on
a Northwest ground crew.
"Not everyone who is homeless is a deadbeat, alcoholic drug user," he said.
He added that he and Serrano "can't be the only two that used a school setting
to help us through a hard time. The only difference is he got caught."
David Mathieu, Normandale's vice president of academic and student affairs, said
he was unaware of Staffa's visits four years ago but it's not the first time
he's heard of nonstudents using the campus' amenities. He has heard similar
stories at six other campuses where he has worked. "It's almost routine," he
said.
Chief Greg Hestness of the university of Minnesota police said it is common --
"if not daily, then frequently" -- to find people trespassing in some of the 250
buildings on the Twin Cities campus, despite beefed-up surveillance and access
controls. Some are trying to get warm, some are mentally ill, he said.
Staffa became homeless by choice in April 2001, when he was 26, after a dispute
with his parents over financial and counseling matters. He acknowledged taking
prescribed medication for depression and receiving sporadic counseling help. He
has chosen not to reconcile with his family and has seldom seen his parents and
siblings since leaving home.
At the time he left he had a job at Northwest but was laid off shortly after the
terrorist attacks of Sept. 11. He relied on unemployment insurance and said he
secured a real estate license but could not afford the startup costs to take
advantage of that business.
He chose not to seek help at shelters to maintain "the illusion" that he was
still living normally: "I didn't want to think of myself like this."
With no way to keep perishable items, he said he relied on fast-food meals and
gained 50 to 60 pounds.
Still, he said, he maintained certain standards, such as always finding public
toilets. "You don't want to feel uncivilized."
In that respect, he said, he identified with Serrano, who passed as a student at
Apple Valley High. "Both of us strived to find ways to portray ourselves as
normal."
He said he sometimes slipped discount coupons from magazines in bookshops and
discount stores. Occasionally he checked into a cheap hotel with cable
television where he could watch movies.
"You find ways to do stuff ... to treat yourself," he said.
By December 2001 he said he was able to rent a studio apartment in Roseville and
about a year later moved into a larger one-bedroom apartment. At the time he was
injured last March, Staffa had a monthly income of about $850 compared with his
monthly rent of $699, including underground parking. He still is coping with a
credit-card balance of about $7,000, nearly all of it from his homeless days, he
said: "I have been treading water since 2001, and that's a lot of treading."
He ran for mayor, he said, because he has an interest in government and politics
and because he believes Burnsville needs more family-oriented programs and
activities and a community center. He watched Burnsville City Council meetings
on TV to learn about the issues and said he spent about $200 on his campaign,
printing fliers on a home computer.
Mayor Kautz confirmed that Staffa disclosed his homeless background during the
campaign.
In joint appearances, Staffa "was articulate and he was funny," she said. "But
he didn't understand local government. ... We're about public safety and public
works." His community center idea has been rejected by voters, she said.
Staffa said he might consider running again to support programs "so more
families don't become what mine became."
For now, he said, "I'm not great, but I'm doing all right. ... I can say I did
this on my own."
But he acknowledges not sleeping well.
"I slept better when I was homeless," he said. "To this day that confuses me."
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