Your invisible neighbors: If you don’t see them, you’re not looking

Your invisible neighbors: If you don’t see them, you’re not looking ...
February 26, 2012
By Vickie Holbrook

If you want to tell the story of homelessness, you must do two things. Spend two nights in a shelter as reporter Nate Green did. And talk to Rev. Bill Roscoe.

We did both, and more, as the newsroom embarked on this project.

Could Nate stay overnight at the Lighthouse Rescue Mission? We didn’t want to take a bed away from someone and we would pay our own way.

Would people open up to a reporter and talk about why they don’t have a home? Would they share their stories?

Director Chris Ellison was pretty sure men would open up.

Nate starts his story today with a first-person account. It will give you an insight few have.
The Lighthouse is an affiliate of Boise Rescue Mission Ministries.

ROSCOE: THE GODFATHER
Most people know Roscoe as Rev. Bill. I think he’s the “Godfather” of Treasure Valley’s homeless. Reporter Tabitha Simenc wrote an in-depth piece on Roscoe for today’s Community section.

As I toured the facility, Roscoe showed me the room that’s being prepared for homeless veterans.
“Are you a veteran?” I asked.

“Yes! I’m a self-described deranged Vietnam vet.”

He enlisted in the Army in 1969 and served in 70-71 as a combat engineer, five months as an infantryman in as a radio operator and squad leader.

When he came home, he received word that his father had cancer.

“He lived for five months and I was devastated by his suffering and death. I was also then responsible for my mom and younger sister. I drank a lot and upon discharge from the Army, I really became a violent, unruly man. I was not a Christian when I was in Vietnam.

“Looking back 40 years, it is clear that I had PTSD (post-traumatic stress disorder).”
It’s no wonder that Roscoe understands the homeless — especially the addicted — so well and why the gospel is such a strong tool.

“My conversion to Christianity was the beginning of my recovery, but even now, I know that certain things, situations and even music can get my mind going back to some very unhappy memories. So, as the Bible tells us, I guard my mind, and do my best to stay focused on those things that are true, praise worthy and godly. I do not have ‘daily struggles,’ or live with white knuckles, and I do give God the praise and glory for restoring my mind.

“I’ll never forget Vietnam or the heroes I was privileged to know and serve with. My personal problems might have all been avoided if I had stayed sober.”
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