Homeless but graduating on The Murfreesboro Post

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By: MICHELLE WILLARD, Post Staff Writer

Posted: Sunday, May 17, 2009 7:27 am

Homeless but graduating | Graduation, RCS, ATLAS, Oakland, Joseph Lucio, Diana Brown

Oakland senior Joseph Lucio graduates today after struggling through being homeless for most of senior year. Lucio sits in the ROTC room at OHS on his final day of class. TMP/Michelle Willard

Senior year is supposed to be a time for fun and parties, but for some Rutherford County high school students, like Joseph Lucio, it’s a time of worry.

Lucio, 19, spent most of his senior year on the streets of Murfreesboro, couch surfing between the houses of friends and fellow church members after he became homeless.

Lucio lived in a small apartment with his mom, step-dad and three younger siblings. That is until the apartment manager told the family there were too many people in the apartment and one of them have to move.

“My mom kicked me out because I was the oldest,” he said.

Lucio then spent the next six months wandering around Murfreesboro, staying with friends here and there, doing his homework in parks and trying not to get mugged.

“In a way I blamed my mom,” he said. “I wanted to know why we couldn’t move.”

Lucio’s struggles aren’t singular in the Rutherford County School system.

RCS spokesman James Evans said 777 homeless or displaced students have been identified since the beginning of the year and about 640 are currently enrolled.

Of those students, 70 are victims of the EF-4 Good Friday Tornado that ripped a 23.5-mile path through the county, destroying almost 1,000 homes and damaging countless others.

For students like Lucio, RCS has Academic Time Leads to Achieving Students (ATLAS), which works to improve homeless students’ chance at success by keeping them in school.

“The program helps students who are homeless or displaced,” Evans explained, adding displaced means they have lost a permanent residence.

Oakland High School Graduation Coach Diana Brown said ATLAS students like Lucio are given free or reduced meals at school, so they at least have the opportunity to eat two meals a day.

“We also give clothing supplements to make sure (homeless students have) clothes for school,” she said.

They are also eligible for backpacks filled with snacks and food to carry home for the weekend, if school staff fears the student may not eat.

Even if she did kick him out, his mom still cared. She would fix him food and encourage him to stay in school.

Brown said Lucio is a good student considering the obstacles he has overcome.

“He tries hard and has a lot of perseverance,” she said. “He does the right thing and stays out of trouble.”

And staying out of trouble can be hard for a student like Lucio, who has been living on the streets and has a difficult time finding a job to support himself.

Lucio said he tried to find employment. But without transportation and an address, no one would hire him.

He also had other worries like not knowing where his next meal would come from or where he was going to sleep.

“I found places to sleep, like Wal-Mart,” he said. “One night I fell asleep in one of the stalls. I just camped out there all night.”

He tried to get into Room in the Inn once, but was turned away because the homeless shelter was out of open beds.

“I went ahead and went up the street to a friend’s house (that night),” he said. “He let me stay the night.”

But the next night he was out on the streets again. At times he didn’t even know where he was, just walking around town at night.

“Guys would try to pick a fight,” he said, adding there were times when he didn’t think he would survive the night.

Lucio said he was mugged one time and the robbers made off with his wallet, ID and last $20.

“I guess they needed it more than I did,” he said.

It’s that very attitude, his positive outlook on life that kept him in school his final year. And the same attitude that will carry him back to his father in San Antonio later this month and Texas A&M University in the fall, where he plans to major in law.

He said prayer and his parents’ support kept him in school.

“My dad and all of them always told me to stay in school,” he said.

When he felt like giving up, moving back to Texas and getting his GED, his mom would tell him to stay in school.

Michelle Willard can be contacted at 615-869-0816 or mwillard@murfreesboropost.com.

Tagged under ATLAS, Diana Brown, Graduation, Joseph Lucio, Oakland, RCS

Member Opinions:

By: barrettbear on 5/17/09
This young man should be a role model for all. With all that he endured he never quit.
When we have people to whom we can turn to for help, that is when we know who our true friends are.

By: lightchick on 5/18/09
I would sleep in my car before I put my teenage child out onto the streets. How this young man went through all this and still speaks kindly of his mother speaks to his amazing character.

By: Boo on 5/18/09
This woman has no clue what a treasure she threw out. Lightchick is right, he is an amazing young man!

By: TimeforJustice on 5/18/09
This young man will have no problems in school or law school. Perserverance is the key...he has already proven that. What a great story and testament to this man's character.

By: justdance on 5/19/09

lightchick he still speaks kindly of his mother because she.... is....his... MOTHER!

It was obvious from the story that she didn't have many options when she was told someone had to leave, obviously the whole family couldn't move for perhaps financial reasons.

Maybe there was something else she could have done, who really knows. What IS obvious is that he was always under God's care, because he survived it and is now moving on with his life and his plans for the future.

....and he does have one because of his determination and positive attitude,he will succeed.

By: Liveonemoretime on 5/23/09
I heard Joseph "who's like a brother" is going to Texas im best friends with his brother who also doesn't live at home im gonna miss u sooo much Joseph keep ur head up we are all so proud.