Once homeless, Matthew Israel Christian has found a new home \u2014 and purpose \u2014 in a most unlikely spot: Fanuel Street Park in Pacific Beach.
\nChristian (name legally changed), a New Jersey native, routinely spends his daytime hours cleaning the park on the bay at 4000 Fanuel St. A cross between goodwill ambassador and landscaper, Christian daily sifts playground sand to remove debris, rakes lawns and picks up trash.\u00a0
\nSpeaking with the very Christian Matthew about Fanuel Park, you quickly grasp the park means a lot more to him than most.
\n“I do feel at ease here, at home,” he said. “It\u2019s a great energy place. It\u2019s very peaceful. If you show up on a day like this where the bay is glistening, kids are happy, and everything seems like it\u2019s right in the world \u2014 that\u2019s when you realize this place is special.”\u00a0
\nAdded Matthew: “I like this kind of work. It’s kind of Zen-like where a person can just forget about their problems.”
\nWould Matthew like being compensated for his volunteerism?
\n“I don\u2019t know if I feel comfortable getting paid for this, to be honest with you,” he replied.
\nMatthew takes park uncleanliness personally.
\n“To see the sand being inundated with tree debris, it\u2019s kind of like having a beautiful home and having it fall to disrepair,” he said. “It doesn\u2019t make any sense.”
\nMatthew keeps a scrapbook of cards people have sent him appreciating his clean-up efforts. “If it wasn\u2019t for these people, I don\u2019t know if I could have gotten through being homeless,” he confided. “It\u2019s about hope versus hopelessness. There are people who care. There are a lot of kind people.”
\nOf being unsheltered, Matthew said: “I was homeless sleeping on the sidewalk for 4 1\/2 years. That bothered the heck out of my back. I felt like a pariah just because I had financial problems. You\u2019re just trying to find a place, like when it\u2019s raining. It\u2019s very lonely at night. It\u2019s not easy.”
\nBy his admission, Matthew has been financially challenged nearly all his life. “My jobs have been mostly driving jobs or lower-skilled manual labor,” he admits, while noting, “I\u2019m 53 years old. I have no criminal record. I\u2019m a normal person coming from a working-class family.”
\nAs his friends will attest, Matthew is one of the more atypical unsheltered people you\u2019re ever\u00a0
\nlikely to run across.
\n“I\u2019ve known Matthew since I moved to PB three years ago,” said Johanna Schnell. “He is a positive, sincere volunteer at the park, focused on keeping the children safe. It goes deeper than sweeping and sifting. When people see Matthew taking care of the park, everyone benefits. His presence truly makes a difference. The park shines brighter when he\u2019s around.”\u00a0
\n“He\u2019s just a nice human being,” said Carlee Gee. “He is unassuming, kind, just doing the best he can.”\u2019
\n“Sometimes, I would bring him food or a backpack of clothes,” said Dorothy Gison. “He gave that backpack to a friend, didn\u2019t use it. He\u2019s very kind, approachable. He\u2019s never asked for money or anything. His neighbors want to help him. We just don\u2019t know how.”
\n“Matthew is a truly special man,” said Peter S., who met Matthew when he moved from Connecticut to PB in 2016 and has since befriended him, offering him both work and lodging. “He has a beautiful soul and a heart of gold\u2026 he consistently gives to others less fortunate than himself.”
\nRegarding\u00a0Matthew\u2019s situation, Peter S. said, “Matthew is challenged in ways that are difficult to define. He\u2019s unable to hold a job, which pays near enough to support him. He has difficulty accepting help.”
\nNonetheless, Peter S. noted, “Matthew has proved himself 100% trustworthy, takes care of my home when I travel, has a wonderful relationship with my son, drives my car and is a true friend and de facto member of my family.”
\nOf Matthew\u2019s future, Peter noted: “Matthew should be paid to do what he and the community love, caring for Fanuel Street Park. Government ought to find a grant or position that can pay him enough to be on his own for contributing so wonderfully to our neighborhood.”
\nMatthew proposed his own solution for enhancing city parks maintenance.
\n“I\u2019m hoping they\u2019ll start an adopt-a-park program where people could do raking, sweeping or picking up litter,” he said. “It could be like an army of volunteers making our parks cleaner and safer for kids. It would be a great example.”
\nRegarding his status, Matthew said, “Maybe this is my lot in life. I\u2019m not crazy. Right now I have housing. I\u2019m able to contribute and make a difference. I guess I have to count my blessings. I have faith in the creator, the savior.”\u00a0
\nAsked the purpose of life, Matthew answered, “To be a blessing to yourself \u2026 and a blessing to other people.”
\nMatthew tithes at least 10% of the money he makes or people give him, to worthy charities.\u00a0
\n“That\u2019s what life\u2019s about \u2026 being part of the solution,” he concluded. “That\u2019s what\u2019s taught in scripture, being a steward of wherever you are on the planet.” Want to help?
\nNeighbors and Pacific Beach residents can come together to help Matthew Israel Christian at gofundme.com\/f\/matthew317.<\/p>","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
Once homeless, Matthew Israel Christian has found a new home \u2014 and purpose \u2014 in a most unlikely spot: Fanuel Street Park in Pacific Beach. Christian (name legally changed), a New Jersey native, routinely spends his daytime hours cleaning the park on the bay at 4000 Fanuel St. A cross between goodwill ambassador and landscaper, […]<\/p>","protected":false},"author":726,"featured_media":282038,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_seopress_robots_primary_cat":"11559","_seopress_titles_title":"Former homeless man finding purpose and friendship at Fanuel Park","_seopress_titles_desc":"","_seopress_robots_index":"","jnews-multi-image_gallery":[],"jnews_single_post":[],"jnews_primary_category":[],"jnews_social_meta":[],"jnews_override_counter":[],"footnotes":""},"categories":[11559,11551],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-282037","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-beach-bay-press","category-news"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/test.sdnews.com\/es\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/282037","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/test.sdnews.com\/es\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/test.sdnews.com\/es\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/test.sdnews.com\/es\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/726"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/test.sdnews.com\/es\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=282037"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/test.sdnews.com\/es\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/282037\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/test.sdnews.com\/es\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/282038"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/test.sdnews.com\/es\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=282037"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/test.sdnews.com\/es\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=282037"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/test.sdnews.com\/es\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=282037"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}