Steve Thomas

A native Washingtonian, Steve Thomas found himself getting involved with drugs and alcohol at an early age. "I had my first drink at 13 years old."  Despite his early struggles, Steve was able to enlist in the Air Force at 21, traveling around the world before returning home in 1984.

Steve lived all along the east coast from Washington D.C. to Miami, FL, "until Hurricane Andrew ran me out."  Throughout this time he continued to struggle with addiction, and eventually Steve lost his home.  He spent a few years surfing couches, during which time he got his Commercial Driver's License.  "Basically, I lived in my truck."

But Steve's problems with drugs and alcohol followed him onto the road, and he lost his truck.  "I couldn't get rid of the problem, because the problem was me."  Steve hopped on a bus and ended up back in downtown DC where, for the fist time in his life, he was out on the street.  "As I walked down Pennsylvania Avenue, I saw people on every single bench, and then it hit me, 'They're homeless, and I am too."

Steve ended up on a bench in front of the Old Post Office building, three blocks from the White House.  Throughout this time he worked as a dishwasher at a downtown restaurant until cutbacks caused him to be laid off.

After losing his job Steve had to rely on soup kitchens and handouts to survive.  But he refused to go to a shelter because of the deplorable conditions he found there.  "I would have died on the street rather than go into one of those shelters."  It got so bad that one cold night Steve prayed for God to end it all.  "I prayed for God to cover up the hole I had been digging for myself all my life.  But instead of burying me, he planted me."

That night a Unity Health Care van pulled up in front of Steve's bench, and a doctor stepped out.  He asked Steve if he was OK.  "I said, 'No, I'm not OK.'  I spilled my guts that night."  The doctor called Steve the next day and pointed him toward a recovery network.  "It was only the grace of God that got me through."

Steve spent 28 days in rehab before moving into transitional housing, where he met a member of NCH Speakers’ Bureau who introduced him to the Faces of Homelessness Speakers' Bureau, and Steve has spoken with NCH ever since.  Today Steve plans to move into a Single Room Occupancy housing unit and sign a lease for the first time in six years.  He also wants to start his own not for profit organization, S.T.E.V.E: Striving Toward Ending Vagrancy Everywhere.