Culture

A homeless Las Vegan turns to GoFundMe to change his fate

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Homeless local Miguel Gomez is hoping crowdfunding can help him get his life on track.

“By the time I was 25 I was on MTV gluing pasties on Dennis Rodman’s nipples,” Miguel Gomez writes on GoFundMe. “I had apprenticed under the best fashion stylist in Hollywood, L'Wren Scott, for three years. … At one point Green Day would actually use my name as their hotel alias. I had dinner with Madonna, Champagne with Angelina Jolie and whiskey with Trent Reznor.”

The stories sound far-fetched, but Gomez has photos to back it up. On Facebook, he poses with Melanie Griffith, Cindy Crawford and RuPaul. He looks so at ease, so adored by his company, it’s conceivable he might be the star. But those days are far off from the life Gomez lives today, shuffling between friends' places and the streets, constantly seeking safety, food and relief from the heat.

The Las Vegas native says he became homeless two years ago after a breakup that spiraled into depression and drug use. Now clean, Gomez says he’d been hopeless up until a couple weeks ago, when he dreamt about his late father and was inspired to take charge of his life. In the dream, his dad appeared with a camera, a detail that urged Gomez to document his experience. So he’s working his connections and starting to film a documentary—on a broken cell phone—about using technology to get off the streets. He set up the GoFundMe account to raise $10,000, which he plans to use to acquire stable housing.

“I saw girls out there getting their boob jobs paid for, so I thought it could help me get off the streets,” he says.

In the campaign’s first two days, Gomez raised $1,350 from 18 donors, though that number has only grown by $20 in the week since. The gifts have come with encouraging messages like, “Let's get you back to LA and a job in fashion!” and “For all those nights you and Sandy let me crash on your couch in Hollywood!" He isn’t touching the money until he reaches his goal, and he blogs almost daily about his experiences on the streets.

He's learned a lot since that first night sleeping outdoors. To avoid police attention he keeps a neat appearance and doesn't jaywalk, and to avoid being robbed, he stashes his belongings rather than carrying them. He was storing his clothes in the back seat of his friend's car up until last week, when it was repossessed. Now it's back to square one. His situation is still astonishing to him.

"If it can happen to me, it can happen to anyone," Gomez says.

Still, his eyes are on the prize: “A door I can shut and lock. A bathroom I can flush the toilet in. A sink I can wash my face and brush my teeth in. A kitchen with a stove. … Oh, and a mailbox, with an actual address. An actual address of my own so I can get a proper ID and employers will be able to hire me with it. Turns out they don't give jobs to people without one.”

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