Steve Gunn is a football nut, specifically for the Seahawks and the Atlanta Falcons. When asked what he would do if the two teams faced off, he was a little reluctant to answer. “They played each other once, and I just sat back and kept my mouth closed.”
Nowadays, Steve watches football and the Mariners from his Burien apartment. He’s also been making the most of this summer so far, which he says is a lot more temperate than the South where he grew up. “Two years ago I went to Atlanta to see my family. I hadn’t been down there in 19 years. Then I went back to Alabama, where I haven’t been for 35 years.” That’s because 21 years ago, Steve moved to Seattle and found himself experiencing homelessness.
As with many people, Steve had a plan moving to the Northwest. “I thought my brothers was gonna let me live with them, but they wouldn’t,” he said. He floated for a while in Pioneer Square from mission to shelter, but could never get used to relying on those places. “They put you out at 4:30 in the morning, and it’d be pouring down rain. Where are you going to go at 4:30 in the morning?”
Steve had a short phase of hopelessness during this period. “You know, homelessness is no fun,” he said. “Especially when you’re homeless and you’re doing drugs. You need help. If you start walking up and down these alleys with that crack pipe in your mouth, it ain’t got nowhere to go.” He didn’t like how much being homeless affected himself and people around him. “It wasn’t your fault and it wasn’t her fault. I made myself uncomfortable by doing it, by not having a home.”
But through it all, there was football. Steve remembers going into hospital waiting rooms to watch the Seahawks play, a nice respite from the constant hustle of living on the streets. But these moments could not last forever. “The security guards would run me out of there, and it’d be pouring down raining,” he said. “I’d come back to Pioneer Square because I ain’t got nowhere to go, and that’s when I’d get back to doing, you know, that crazy stuff again … Now I got a TV, I don’t have to do any of that.”
Steve hasn’t left the Seattle area since he arrived and remembers hearing about Real Change early on. “I just wanted to sell papers,” he said. “I wanted to be like everybody else.” Having another source of income helped him get off the streets and into housing six years ago. He sells at Sixth and Union by the Washington Athletic Club, and has attracted a loyal following. “I respect people, and I also want people to respect me.”
Steve loves living in Burien even if it does mean a longer commute. Access to a TV has made his living situation much more comfortable, but that doesn’t mean he’s going to get up and go play linebacker. “I’m 52 years old,” he said. “I’d get killed out there!”