Michael, 33, and originally from Peru, came to Colorado two and a half years ago to visit his aunts and uncles in Denver, and to be a guest at his cousin’s wedding. He then decided to stay here. Michael’s mother lives in Chile, and his father in Peru. Michael has been living in Boulder for the past three months. Like many immigrants, he unfortunately does not have papers so it is difficult for him to get a job. He spends most nights at the Boulder Shelter for the Homeless. When I asked what drew him to Colorado, he said “the mountains, the people, the musicians.” Because of our language barrier, Michael used his cell phone to translate some of what he said to me from Spanish to English. He said he liked it here because it was “bohemian!” Michael travels regularly between Denver, Longmont, Nederland, and Boulder. He said he studies English at the library, and also teaches classical guitar. At Tuesday’s Feet Forward Program, he didn’t have his guitar with him. He said he left it at the shelter for safekeeping, but often plays downtown. I told Michael I was writing these short profiles so that perhaps people could begin to hear more of the stories of the unhoused. Although he was soft-spoken, he was very willing to talk with me. I was drawn to him initially because of how polite he always is when he signs into the “Tuesdays in the Park” program, and because of a certain gentleness. When I asked him if he could elaborate more on his choice to live outside as he does, Michael wrote me the following on his cell (translation):

“I feel that life tells me that I have to find myself for a labor of love that only I understand as an experience of love. I know that life wants me to be here now. When life wants me to go, then I have to go.”