Homeless in DC - WUSA 9 News story

This story was on last night at 11pm and again at 5am today.

http://www.wusa9.com/news/local/story.aspx?storyid=74029&catid=158

WASHINGTON, DC (WUSA)-- During the last week in June, Chris Jollay slept, ate and panhandled on the streets of the District. The 36-year-old Alexandria, Va. government contractor says he did it for a bet.

The Bet

Jollay is a longtime Milwaukee Brewers fan. His college friend David Christman cheers for the Philadelphia Phillies. The two George Mason alumni bet in 2007 on which team would have a better season.

"We do a bet every year," Jollay tells WUSA9.com.

Jollay says winning money wasn't fun anymore. So, the friends agreed upon a different reward.

If Jollay won, then the single man would get to live the domestic life. Jollay was the best man at Christman's wedding.

"I would have gotten to move in with [Christman's] wife. She'd have to cook me dinner and I'd go to her slumber parties and [Christman would] move into my place," Jollay says.

If Jollay lost, then he'd have to go homeless in the District for one week. Jollay did lose. In 2007 the Phillies record (89 - 73) outshone the Brewer's record (83 - 79).

The question remained if Jollay would follow through. For one reason, Jollay was transitioning between jobs. Ironically, he needed to take care of his livelihood before going homeless.

Jollay says he keeps bets. "Well I had to. You have to honor a bet. I'm big into that. If you give your word to something, you should do it."

This June Jollay finally had enough vacation time to fulfill the bet. "I did tell some people at my job what I was doing for vacation. They thought kinda I was nuts," he says.

Going Homeless

Around 2 a.m. Sunday, June 29, 2008, friends dropped Jollay off on Foxhall Road in northwest DC. He wore a white t-shirt and shorts, sneakers and reading glasses.

He says he felt too conspicuous when he was trying to sleep. "I was nervous the whole time," Jollay tells WUSA9.com.

He talked to some homeless but kept mostly to himself. He didn't have much exposure to homeless people before taking on the bet. "I've given to charities but I've never really [come into much contact.]"

"One of the mistakes I made was...I wore light clothing...I would be [sleeping on a] bench and the [homeless] guy was next to me...and I didn't see him," he says. He says he was also cold at night wearing only shorts.

According to the bet, Jollay was allowed to carry one bag of items. Christman approved all of the items. Jollay says, he carried 12 power bars and 100-calorie snacks, a disposable camera, $20 dollars, contact lens, a marker and pen, and a bottle of Jack Daniels.

"I brought a big bottle of that, just to pass the time. Especially when it was cold...made the nights go faster."

He also added a change of underwear and white t-shirt, sunscreen, bug spray and pepper spray. For sleeping, he carried a woven blanket and couch pillow.

"A lot of people thought I was a weirdo with the Pokemon backpack and pillow and blanket," Jollay says.

Instead of a trash bag, he carried his 8-year-old Pokemon backpack. He tells WUSA9.com he's a fan of the Pokemon. But more importantly, he had to carry two Arabic language textbooks.

Jollay took a break from work, but he continued to attend an Arabic language class in Dupont Circle. He says he signed up for the class as part of his career development. From Monday to Thursday, he went to the three-hour language class.

To keep in touch Christman bought Jollay a pre-paid cell phone with 100 minutes. Jollay only used his cell phone to call Christman daily. Mutual friend Steve Heckman would post Jolly's updates on a website.

"There [was] certainly, the daily concern," Christman says. Christman visited Jollay frequently and brought with him water, food, and cigars.

"On Monday, I went to Boston Market and [bought] him a chicken sandwich, mashed potatoes and drink." Christman says.

Jollay ventured around Capitol Hill, Georgetown, Dupont Circle and Woodley Park. He says sometimes men did harass him.

"Sexual harassment is alive in colleges and also in the streets," says Michael Stoops, Acting Executive Director of the National Coalition for the Homeless.

Stoops learned of Jollay's experience and says it was an accurate experience.

"I think he did it in an ethical, challenging way," Stoops says.

"I was kinda nervous that something would happen to me. I didn't sleep where I wasn't secure. I went off the beaten path where no one would bother me." Jollay says.

He lost his reading glasses Monday when he left them unattended.

He says it was the hardest to find a place to sleep. "That was the worst part, trying to decide that. It varied every night." When he did sleep, he would be frequently disturbed by noise from people or birds. On average, he got 3 hours of uninterrupted sleep.

He says on Friday three drunken young men ran around his sleeping body near George Washington University.

"I jumped up. They scared the life out of me." Jollay says he almost used his pepper spray.

His sleeping areas included the National Mall, a field at The Lab School of Washington in Northwest Washington and a swing set in Northeast Washington.

"I got a little bit of flack because I hung out at the playground. It seemed like I was a weirdo pedophile, the way I looked," he says.

On other nights, he slept on a concrete bench near the Memorial Bridge and benches by the Kennedy Center and the Ellipse. He says he wanted to stretch out his 6'4 body but short benches posed a problem.

His roughest nights were when it rained: "Its sucks when things are still wet, my blanket gets damp and then I [start] to get cold," he says on friend Steve Heckman's website.

Thursday the two friends Christman and Heckman visited Jollay sleeping near the Theodore Roosevelt Building.

"I couldn't believe it. He was fatigued. His spirits were pretty low I thought," Heckman says. I thought I'd expect the Jollay I'd always knew...kinda upbeat, not serious."

Jollay was also surprised at how desperately he wanted to quit. "All Thursday and Friday, I was tired and I was just kinda dehydrated. I just missed the comforts of home."

During the day, he says he walked. "I lost 10 pounds. I was kinda surprised. Because I'm kind of a skinny guy...I walked so much, like just miles and miles."

He visited the Natural History Museum and the National Zoo. At the zoo, he ate lettuce and carrots left unattended by the zookeeper inside the monkey house.

"It was just left out in front of the door."

He says he got $12 from panhandling. He made a sign stating: "temporarily homeless but not too bright, please help."

"I was kinda careful to stay away from someone who was panhandling more than me?When people asked [why I was homeless,] I said I'd been kicked out by my girlfriend. I didn't want to patronize anybody or offend."

He did purchase a Potbelly's sandwich and $1 chicken sandwiches from McDonald's when he wasn't panhandling.

"I got hungry and weaker toward the end of the week."

Public city water fountains and sprinklers provided some hydration. And he'd used public restrooms in McDonald's, Burger King, and Starbucks.

Leaving Homelessness

His experience ended the night of July 5, 2008. He immediately attended a party with 30+ friends at Capitol Lounge near Capitol Hill. He drank his first beer under air conditioning.

He showered immediately . He slept six hours before going to his part-time job at Dulles.

Jollay says he lost weight and got a taste of the hardships facing homeless people. The 198-pound man says it was worth his vacation time.

"I could have spent it on the beach but I've done it many times...Most people haven't done this," Jollay says.

He noticed people still treated him fairly well because despite his unkempt appearance, he didn't look like a complete homeless.

"Even though I did it, I still didn't feel like it was really, really homeless. I can only imagine what I was like if I didn't have that 20 dollars and [help from my friends.]"