Michael Krieger has an electrifying connection to a popular reality show.
“You ever hear of that guy?” Michael asks. “The Cake Boss? He’s on TLC.”
He explains: “I’m an electrician by trade. (The Cake Boss) has a huge building where he makes all of his pastries. He’s got a big operation going because he owns a lot of stores. I used to do work for him — wiring any new equipment that came in, from a mixing machine to heavy-duty dishwashers.
“I could wire this whole building,” Michael says, looking around the Street Roots office. “For instance, those outlets that are along the wall, I would run the pipes that go from outlet to outlet. Those are boxes behind the ceiling lights. A bar bracket goes across the ceiling grid.”
Michael belonged to the electrical union in Paterson, N.J., and wired residential and industrial buildings. He had a full-time job and a faithful dog named Othello and made $2,200-per-month mortgage payments on his house for nearly 10 years.
But union work slowed, so Michael started his own business. The volume wasn’t there, and he had to short-sell his house and walk away with nothing.
In October, he decided to drive 3,600 miles to Oregon.
“I came straight to Portland because my sister was here. But then she actually moved to Denver,” he says, “so now I’m here by myself.”
In Oregon, Michael found work with a temp agency to move furniture two days a week, but the pay and sale of his truck were not enough to keep his apartment. He was evicted April 1.
Becoming homeless was a shock.
“I was like, ‘Oh my God. I’m actually on the streets,’” Michael says. “But after I slept out a couple of days, I kind of got used to it.”
Michael says, “‘I’ll get off eventually. It’s just a matter of making some money.”
He works for Street Roots now, “and that’s good for me,” he says.
Michael became a vendor in May and says he likes providing information to the community. His morning routine is to get to the Street Roots office early, drink coffee and go to his spot by 8 a.m. on most days.
To earn enough money for housing, Michael says, “I have to get (an Oregon) license to work as an electrician. There are plenty of jobs for electricians. You go on Craigslist and there are tons. I just need the licensing; that’s all.”
“I know the practical,” he says. “Like I could wire this whole building. But then you’ve got to know theory and know everything an electrical engineer needs to know.”
Getting to the next step has been difficult because his backpack, along with his wallet and cellphone, was stolen. Without identification, he has not been able to start the process for an electrician’s license. Without a cellphone, he could not be contacted by the temp agency for labor jobs.
Small steps and persistence are helping Michael reach his goals. He is working with Transitions Projects Inc. to front the application fee for identification papers from New Jersey. He applied for and got a new “Obama phone” from a federal program started during the Reagan administration.
Michael is not completely alone on the streets. He still has Othello.
“I’ve had him for eight years,” Michael says about his dog. “He’s 9 years old now. Sleeps next to me. Keeps me warm. He’s calm.”
He is divided on how to care for Othello. Were Michael to get a 9-to-5 job, there is no place to keep him.
Michael muses: “I met another guy; he’s on the streets, and he found a home for his dog. With a backyard and everything. Worked out.”
In the same breath, he says, “I’m just going to find Othello a dog sitter. We’ve been through a lot, you know, me and him.”
