James Edward Lewis was born in Lake Village Arkansas. He joined the Army just after finishing High school. “I had a full ride to play football at Delta State in Mississippi, but my best friend was signing up and I already had a family to support. So I went into the Army.” Mr. Lewis served in Ft. Edwin, California from 2013-2017 first in the infantry and later as a supply clerk.
After leaving the military, he came back to Arkansas to be near his children. When he and his partner broke up, he moved to Georgia with an Army friend. He began working as a petition circulator. The job paid well but involved a lot of travel so when I eventually moved in with a new girlfriend, I sent her back money every month for rent and bills.”
Mr. Lewis eventually took a break from the road, but when he came home, he found that they were behind on the rent. “I never did find out what she spent all the money on, but I gave her another chance. We got another roommate, a friend of hers, so we could split the rent three ways and begin working on paying off the debt.”
Unfortunately, that didn’t work out. She left, leaving him and the roommate, with no transportation or stable place to live. “I called my mom and she bought me a bus ticket to get home. When she found out my friend didn’t have anywhere to go either, she got her a ticket too and we both came to Lake Village.”
Back in Lake Village, he was once again looking for work, but he needed better employment than he could find there. “I eventually came to Little Rock because the petition drive company I had worked for was now located here. My old boss was here and I thought I had everything set up to start.” But once here, his old boss never made contact and he found himself stuck. “I had competed in Mixed Martial Arts and kick-boxing in the service and I wandered into a local MMA gym. The manager let me come free and I could work out and have a place to be. Then I called the Veteran crisis line and they referred me to St. Francis House. St. Francis House gave me the number for the Veterans’ Day Treatment Center, and we got the process rolling. I came here June 14th.”
Mr. Lewis is now working as security at the VA hospital. “It’s a great job and there’s lots of opportunity. But that meant I made too much for housing assistance. And when I did look for places to rent, I found out that my former girlfriend had left me $10,000 in arrears for the apartment that I haven’t been living in. I’m not sure how it happened, but it’s making finding a place hard. “
Mr. Lewis is working with a credit agency to help service the debt, he’s working with both Re-Entry and SSVF to try and find housing and he still hits the gym daily. His friend from Georgia is now his fiancé and lives in Lake Village near his mom. They have a child and another on the way. “And once I get a place, I’ll be moving my family here.”