Arek Owell creates a sign that he will use for a peaceful protest
By: Brenan Joy
Homeless but not Hopeless
You can find Arek Owell, a 28-year-old homeless man in Eugene, Oregon on the streets either peacefully protesting or sharing his life thoughts with people on a daily basis. On Thursday February 16th, Owell stands outside of Chase Bank with a sign that reads “Why would Jesus Divest.” This sign protests President Donald Trump’s decision to invest in the Dakota Access Pipeline before approving it. Owell chooses to live on the streets rather than seeking residence at a local shelter. Nathan Murphy another 28-year-old homeless man in Eugene says “there are too many druggies at the local homeless shelters, which makes me want to stay out on the streets instead.” Owell also speaks about how the homeless get a poor general reputation due to handful of druggies in the shelters and on the streets. This shows that even when there is help available for the homeless that it doesn’t always improve their quality of life.
Before being a homeless man in Eugene, Owell was a homeless man in his hometown of Sacramento, California. Owell, however wasn’t always homeless. He once had a full time job working for a lumber company is Sacramento. Then at age 22 he was hit by a car while walking across a crosswalk. Both of his legs were broken upon impact. This limited Owell’s working ability, however he was not laid off but chose to quit his job on his own. When I asked for the reasoning behind the decision he said, “I wanted to do something different than hate my life because my situation would never change.” Owell who has always wanted to pursue his passion for poetry wanted to change his lifestyle and decided to travel from Sacramento to Eugene on foot once he recovered from the injury. Owell said that he felt Eugene would be a better environment to live on the streets and work on his writing. Since arriving in Eugene he has spent his time participating in multiple peaceful protests, writing poetry, and talking to others about his favorite book The Human Zoo by Desmond Morris.
While admitting that being homeless isn’t the ideal life Owell is optimistic about the future. Owell looks forward to improving his poetry and spreading positive energy to new people every day. Owell says that he wishes people could learn to love everyone and everything rather than judging each other based on materialistic items and physical appearance. Owell says that the homeless have a bad general reputation based on a few bad apples who live on the streets. In the future Owell says he hopes to teach people to love the Earth as a whole and to treat every other human being with respect.