Mykel, who has been selling Street Roots for five years, has experienced a spiritual shift
Mykel Garner recently started meditating to help with his depression. His dog, Petey, who’s been with him for two years, has been helping, too.
“(Petey’s) been my Godsend,” Mykel said. “I got him right at the right time.”
Mykel has grappled with bipolar and post-traumatic stress disorders his whole life.
When he was 4, his mother was murdered while Mykel was in her arms. He was separated from his younger sister at age 8 after his grandmother dropped him off at Child Protective Services and never returned. After running away from a group home at 15, he began a harrowing life on the streets.
At times, depression was all consuming, Mykel said. But recently, at 46, he experienced a spiritual shift.
“It’s like I’ve transcended through all that pain somehow,” he said. “I’ve forgiven myself and everyone else.
“I’m learning how to understand my own feelings and emotions and how to live with them.”
Street Roots helped Mykel get back on his feet after he almost lost his life on the streets. One night, he fainted from severe dehydration and hunger after a “13-day psychosis” and woke up in the hospital. He almost didn’t make it. He stayed in the psychiatric ward for a month, where he learned about Street Roots and other homeless outreach programs. After leaving the hospital, he made his way to the Street Roots office.
That was five years ago. He’s been selling Street Roots ever since.
You can usually find him at his post on Southwest Yamhill Street and 10th Avenue, outside of Case Study Coffee.
“Street Roots is a good place to learn how to be your own boss, to take care of your own money and be able to take care of what you need,” he said.
Now, Mykel hopes to get into Street Root’s Ambassador Program.
“My passion is wanting to help and to be a homeless outreach worker,” he said. “I want to get into this Ambassador Program because when I was homeless on the streets, nobody saw me. I want people to know that we see them and that we care about them and that they mean something. That they matter.”
Mykel is a voracious journal writer, and he yearns to help others with his story.
“I’m a truth seeker,” he said. “I’m just trying to find the truth and to tell people about my experience.”
When he began journaling years ago, Mykel wrote a lot about his depression. These days, he’s been writing poetry and journaling about the “weird, magical stuff that’s been happening” to him.
“All the experiences I’ve been having have been leading me up to something, and I’m not sure what it is, but it’s going to be something good,” he said.
He wants to write a book one day, but he’s figuring out where to start.
Mykel has been applying and interviewing for jobs, and he’s also considering going to college. He is housed, and he owns a van that he fixed up with his stimulus money.
But life has been challenging for Mykel lately.
Selling papers isn’t bringing in the revenue it once did before the pandemic, and finding a job is difficult for Mykel because of his physical disabilities. Plus, he hasn’t been able to secure his disability assistance.
Then, Mykel’s sister died in November from cancer, at 44.
“Things have been really hard,” he said.
But Mykel’s spiritual practice and Petey have given him solace. Recently, he’s been making YouTube videos about his spiritual awakening.
“I learned to meditate, and then what my chakras were, and how to spin my chakras,” he said. “Then I learned how to meld my heart with my mind, and how to come from a place of the heart.
“Since I’ve learned that, amazing things have been happening.”
Street Roots is an award-winning weekly publication focusing on economic, environmental and social justice issues. The newspaper is sold in Portland, Oregon, by people experiencing homelessness and/or extreme poverty as means of earning an income with dignity. Street Roots newspaper operates independently of Street Roots advocacy and is a part of the Street Roots organization. Learn more about Street Roots. Support your community newspaper by making a one-time or recurring gift today.
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