“So Broke it Hurts”–A Story of Poverty

Meet Roy Jackson.

 

Roy Jackson

He is an American that used to work for a high level marketing firm in San Diego. He has a wife and three daughters. One weekend he walked into his work and found out that his company had packed their bags and declared bankruptcy.  All his money and assets that he had in the company were suddenly gone overnight.

Now he is left panhandling on the streets of San Diego to earn enough money to take care of his family.  Everyday he gets attacked by other homeless people (especially drug addicts), harassed by regular people because he “brings down property value, and also given tickets from the police for standing on the corner.  Everyday he wakes up early in the morning to see his children to the bus stop to go to school, and then he makes his way to various shopping malls where he stands 15 hours a day to beg for money.

 

 

 

an RV like this can help Roy turn his life around.

Roy has many material needs like food, clothes, bus passes, and money.  However, his biggest need now is some sort of permanent housing in the form of a trailer or RV so that he can establish a permanent address to find work, and also for a consistent place for his family to live in.

 

 

 

 

He holds a sign that reads “So broke it hurts.” The story behind this phrase was from the first time his family had to sleep out on the streets. It was a rainy day and there were mudslides. His daughter asked him “Why aren’t we in a room?” Roy meant to tell her that “We’re so broke it hurts for me to yell you” but it was that time that he felt a divine presence in him that gave him the phrase “So broke it hurts.” This was when he knew that this phrase would be their ticket out of poverty. Since then, Roy has been on the streets for five years and God has provided for him ever since.

Here is a video I recorded with my interview with Roy:

Roy, using his marketing skills from the past set up a cheap donation site that costed him $2 so that people can donate to him online.  You can donate to Roy at:

http://sobrokeithurts.org