Finding a New Dream

David Jarvis knew from the time he was a child growing up in the 60’s in Los Angeles that he wanted to work on the railroad. The tracks went somewhere mysterious and unknown, he recalled, and he just knew he was meant to make a career out of his passion for trains.

“It was the marching of the sound, of steel and clanking motors and guys leaning out the window of the train blowing that whistle – oh, that whistle! They looked like they were having a good time,” David said.

After high school, he began applying for jobs, or, as he puts it, kicking down doors and his dream finally came true. He worked as a switchman, brakeman and conductor and then in the early 90s, his company offered buyouts to workers and many of them accepted, leaving the workforce depleted and workers taking on extra shifts and losing sleep in a very dangerous work environment.

After several of David’s friends were killed due to accidents and sleep deprivation, his dream lost its appeal and he took a buyout, which he quickly spent. He tried a few other odd jobs, but nothing fulfilled him and he became homeless. “I was embarrassed,” David said. “I couldn’t tell my friends I had lost my dream job.”

He did what he did best, which was hop a freight train, and he spent the next few decades struggling to make a living and find peace with his losses at the railroad. About 7 years ago, David was living in Washington when a friend told him about the Eugene Mission and he came to stay here, but he left and went back to Washington.

When the pandemic hit, shelters went on lockdown and David lived on the street, under bridges and wherever he could lay his head. He eventually received his pension, which he says kept him alive, but he needed so much more. He called the Eugene Mission and asked to come back. When he arrived, he found that many things had changed.

“The Mission was structured differently,” he said. “Now we have the R3 program, which has really helped me. I regained my bearings and was able to focus on what I wanted to do, build a savings and get enrolled in a housing program.”

He said consistent encouragement and guidance from his Navigator Tanya Miner helped him keep going and stay hopeful that his life wasn’t over just because he lost his old dream. He said he knows God is guiding and directing him.  

In Lane County, a process called Coordinated Entry helps people who are experiencing homelessness get placed on a central waitlist for available housing programs. Applicants fill out an assessment, called the Front Door Assessment, which helps identify a person’s barriers to housing and severity of need. To David’s surprise, he skyrocketed to the top of the list and has found housing.

David is now 66 and says there were times when he feared he might be on the street forever. “There are three things I never lost,” he said. “I didn’t lose faith in the Father, Jesus, or the Holy Spirit.”

Although his dream of working on the railroad is long gone, he says he is filled with hope for his future and is living his “fourth” chance, through the grace of God. “I’m going to make the most of it!” David said.