Brian HoweyThis story was part of coverage that won the 35th SPJ NorCal Excellence in Journalism Award, Print/Online Small Division.
Eugene Bowden’s bloodshot eyes and calloused fingers betray his long history of homelessness. A child runaway, the 52-year-old Bayview native spent his youth in and out of group homes.
More recently, he has spent his middle age in and out of hospitals with a skin condition that makes him prone to infection. Abscesses line his left leg. He had just left the hospital the day before the Public Press spoke to him. “I couldn’t take the smell no more,” he said.
A lifetime of homelessness has worn Bowden down.
“I’ve been in tents so long, I just want to do something better with my life,” he said. “I can’t take care of myself.” He hopes his time in the hotel will lead to a permanent home and he wants Mayor London Breed to know that he appreciates her for what she’s done for him, he said.
While waiting to be placed in a room Wednesday, he wobbled away, leaning on his cane and saying he needed to get his daily methadone supplement before he left for his new room. He was last seen saying goodbye to friends who lived in tents nearby.
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