Community Corner

Homeless: 'Surviving on the Kindness of Other People'

Patch ran into Jeff Lindelof, a homeless man living in Baltimore County, who shared with us what it's like to live outside during the winter months.

 

Jeff Lindelof says he lost everything in a fire—a collection of shirts, jackets, pants, gloves—from under a bridge that he called home. 

He is a homeless man living in Baltimore County and has had to relocate his encampment, which was under the Padonia Road bridge in Timonium

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, as part of a series I wrote on Housing the Homeless in Baltimore County. But on a chilly Monday, I just happened to bump into him again (see video). 

He's still in good spirits, despite the drop in temperature. He says he's rebuilding his collection of donated clothing, which once featured a stack of coats "taller than you," he told me back in October 2010. 

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I asked him how he was doing. 

"Surviving on the kindness of other people," he told me. 

Lindelof is categorized as "chronically homeless," as defined by the Department of Housing and Urban Development. 

But he's more than a statistic. He's a man who would rather live under a bridge than in a shelter. He is, however, difficult to care for because of his preferred vagabond lifestyle. 

The county has established the Homeless Management Information System, "a Congressional mandate for all jurisdictions that receive federal funding for homeless and homeless prevention services," according to the county website. 

But Lindelof remains skeptical of the county's efforts. He knows how he wound up living in a tent and he tries not to be a burden to others. 

He's the kind of person that looked at the fire and called it "a blessing." 

Watch the video to find out why, and how he's making it through the winter. 


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