10 GROUNDCOVER NEWS HOMELESSNESS People in the neighborhood: Rob Rob is a friendly man. Very easy to talk to and loves light and clever conversation. I’ve known Rob for a few years now. His health is challenged and is exacerbated by suffering through homelessness. Rob is a talented DJ, I see him on the bus and in the library with his mixing program on his laptop all the time. He is a capable man, even with his health struggles. “Where were you born?” I asked. “I am from Dearborn, Michigan,” Rob replied. “Did you go to high school?” I asked. “Yep, I graduated from Three Rivers High School in 1980,” Rob replied. “Did you go to college?” I asked. “No,” Rob said, “I went to a vocational school to be a sound engineer and a DJ.” “What got you into DJing?” I asked. “My mom. We were in the Grace Church choir for seven years. I got to help out on the sound board. I've been a DJ for 43 years now. I’ve done over a thousand weddings, and have been up and down the gentleman’s clubs on 8 Mile in Detroit,” he replied. “If you could go to college for free and study any subject, what would it be?” I asked. “I would go to Full Sail in Florida and get a certificate in sound engineering. Engineering jobs can start at up to $96k per year,” Rob said with emphasis. “Would it be easy to get a job after the courses?” I asked. “If I get a certificate, probably,” Rob replied. “It's a matter of having good ears. If you don't have good ears, you can still get a certificate. Those certificates pretty much just show you know the basics. A certificate means you have just enough skills to get a chance,” Rob continued. “What kind of places hire sound engineers?” I asked. “Usually touring bands. I might find a studio to work at but I kind of like to go out on the road. It would be fun to travel and get paid,” Rob mused. “But unfortunately there's no opportunities here. I need to go to Vegas but I don't want to leave because I like the guys here. But sometimes you have to make sacrifices to be where you want in life.” “What about starting your own DJ business?” I asked. “I've had a couple of those. I'd rather just find a place to work,” Rob replied. “What was life like for you before all that happened?” I asked. “It was OK,” Rob recalled. “I was working at a club doing what I do. Just living at the time, trying to make ends meet, you know, just one thing after the other. I had a four-year-old car, turbo with all wheel drive. I was living with my best friend. He was living his JIM CLARK Groundcover vendor No. 139 life, I was living mine. We were working, driving, shopping and taking in what life has to offer.” Then it happened. Rob shared the moment his life fell apart. “You said your best friend passed away?” I asked. Rob replied, “We went to South Carolina and decided to get a house. So, you know, if we didn't find someone to marry, at least we could help each other pay the bills. He passed away and all of a sudden, all the bills were in my lap. I burned through my savings, then I crashed my brand new Chevy after being cut off in traffic. Then my sister passed away within three weeks after that. There's a whole bunch of other stuff that happened then next thing you know, I’m homeless.” “All right, so what's going on now? Tell me about the last two years of your life,” I asked. “It's been living in a tent and trying to make money by donating plasma. I’m surrounded by people with dangerous mental illnesses, I’ve had three surgeries and had to recover in my tent. I can't really do a lot of physically intense work. There’s not a lot out here for broken 60-year-old men,” he said. “Tell me about the last couple of days at your camp,” I asked. “I haven't been there. I've been going back to check on my tent, but somebody finally took it out. Somebody took my tent and took all my stuff out of it. All my clothes were actually in a bag ready to go do laundry, so they just picked them up and took them. You know, I'm 5'6", 170 pounds. The only [people] who wear my clothes are probably girls. You know, so whatever. I'm a little angry, but I'm over it.” The clothing Rob was referring to were things he had gotten for Christmas from a local hospitality house. “Where are you with housing? Are there agencies helping you?” I asked. “I asked PATH where I was on the list and they couldn’t give me an answer. Then I found out I was not on the list, so finally I had to fucking deal with it. They've got every little bit of useful ID and information they need, so I don't know. I guess with the kidney stones and bad back and everything else, I Rob is a career DJ who became homeless after the sudden death of a housemate and sibling. must not be a priority. But still. I'm not gonna let it keep me down. I've crawled out of the hole a few times. So, you know, this is just taking a little longer because I'm older. ” It is important to note that, like many others, Rob has been waiting on help from the government for months. He was acting responsibly when he was in South Carolina — working and paying bills — and then tragedy struck. Was it his fault his friend died? Was it his fault his car was wrecked? Was it his fault for having kidney stones? No, no, and no. So where is the state? This is what social welfare programs are for, so why are so many people waiting months for help? Here is some more information about people recovering from surgery while experiencing homelessness: Post-surgical mortality and homelessness: People experiencing homelessness (PEH) are more likely to experience surgical complications, with one study finding they have 1.42 times greater odds of complications compared to housed patients (American College of Surgeons). Homelessness is an independent risk factor for developing infections and complications within 90 days of surgery (U.S. National Library of Medicine). Reports have documented specific cases, such as a woman in a Canadian tent encampment who passed away after being denied necessary surgery because she had no safe place to recover (New Brunswick Media Co-op). about “You had surgery recently. Tell me that. What happened afterwards?” I asked. “They (Trinity Medical) just released me. I had to wait for a bus to take me back to my camp. No ride, no motel, nothing. They didn’t even let me spend the night.” “Are you recovering okay?” “I’m still bleeding,” Rob replied. FEBRUARY 6, 2026
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