unheard voices
Quest
It is kind of a strange coincidence how I meet Quest. I am walking around Old Town, searching for somebody to interview and before I know it, I am directly across the street from The Rescue Mission. Right outside is a bulky man, leaning against the concrete wall. My quest has led me to Quest, a Christ-loving man who, on this very day, changes my life.
Quest had just spent his first night at the Rescue Mission when I interview him. It is the day after he is released from jail, for reasons undisclosed. Originally from Colorado Springs, he is unsure of where to go. A police officer told him about the Mission, so he bought a bus ticket and wound up sleeping here. He's been trying to get in contact with his family, asking them to come pick him up. He has a wife and children back home in the Springs.
“You can either let something make you or break you," Quest explains after I ask him what his experience has been like.
This is the first time he's been to jail in several years, but not the first time he's been homeless. A while back, he and his first wife divorced and he was unable to live at the house. She took the kids, leading him to have a mental breakdown. Eventually, he covered up her name on his neck with a Spade tattoo.
Quest says it's hard to attain work when you don't have a steady place to live. He believes getting cleaned up when you're homeless is the best way to shine.
Shortly after our interview, Quest asks if he can pray with me. I willingly agree. When the prayer ends, he looks up with watery eyes. I'm not sure if it is that or the sincerity in his words, but I too begin to tear up. I am moved by Quest and his story. A man who is grappling with his own reality, somehow manages to find hope in each day.
"I am definitely on a journey."