Patrick Kenyon’s Journey | Washington D.C
Patrick Kenyon, 24, smoking a cigarette Nov. 19 before panhandling at the Ballston Metro station in Washington D.C.. If someone is panhandling when he arrives, he travels to Tysons Corner.
Kenyon, who sits at the top of the Ballston Metro escalators, describes what led him to him becoming homeless as a “series of unfortunate events.”
An electrical fire, resulting in a skin graft, and a torn rotator cuff carry the narrative for Kenyon’s sign. The untreated rotator cuff limits his ability to find manual labor work, which comprises the bulk of his resume experience.
Kenyon and his father, Patrick Kenyon Sr., lived together utilizing a housing voucher. During an attempted robbery in 2018, his father was shot in the stomach, sending him to months in the ICU. The robbers left with $21. Kenyon returned to panhandling to support his father.
“Of course I’d rather be working,” Kenyon said. “The biggest obstacle that was causing me not to get a job was when employers were looking at my resume and seeing the last time I had taxable work on my resume. I think they saw that gap [father in ICU] and they were wondering whether I could be reliable.”
A regular visitor, who has previously notified Kenyon of employment opportunities at his job, stops to talk at the Ballston Metro station Nov. 23. He discusses logistics, the hiring process, and answers Kenyon’s questions before leaving him some change.
Kenyon’s father, who had preexisting back issues prior to his gunshot wound, was unable to carry the bulk of the financial burden. Kenyon said, “People around my age, they usually have family to help them and that was something I didn’t really have. I think that plays a big factor.”
Kenyon smokes a cigarette at Ballston Metro Station before heading to catch the next metro home Nov. 23.
Kenyon travels 45 minutes each way to panhandle nearly every day. He uses an app on his phone to track different Metro lines. On average, Kenyon makes between five to sixty dollars a day.
Kenyon, who lost his father’s housing voucher after his death, alternated between couch surfing and street sleeping. In January 2019, Street Sense, and nonprofit for the homeless, approached him while panhandling. They encouraged Kenyon to utilize their case management program. It would be his first steps towards housing.
Kenyon’s apartment, located in the Van Ness neighborhood of Washington D.C., is sparsely furnished. A case manager from Street Sense is helping Kenyon acquire furniture to create a common space for he and his roommate.
![“It feels good [to have an apartment]. It’s a lot of stress off my shoulders and it feels good to be able to come in whenever I want and not worry,” Kenyon said. “It’s nice being able to know this is where I’m going to be for the next 18 months.”](https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/559bf2c2e4b0b87ace85cfda/1579813995847-UHTREVBFGSRVNR0VQX5G/image-asset.jpeg)
“It feels good [to have an apartment]. It’s a lot of stress off my shoulders and it feels good to be able to come in whenever I want and not worry,” Kenyon said. “It’s nice being able to know this is where I’m going to be for the next 18 months.”
After an August 2018 argument, Kenyon was kicked out of his father’s place. Two weeks later, his father passed away. Kenyon said, “I was just hard headed and hurt at the time. I just felt bad the last two weeks of our relationship were not the best.”
After several months of work, Street Sense found an organization that grants 18 months free housing if tenants put 30 percent of their earnings into a savings account. After 18 months, the money is returned to provide a financial boost out of homelessness. Kenyon moved into his apartment October 2019.
Gorilla Bananas, a character from Richard Scarry’s children’s books, is Kenyon’s only keepsake from his childhood.