By J. Deveaux

Kenneth Middleton, 38, born in Oklahoma and raised by his grandmother, spent 30 years in D.C. After the death of his grandmother, Middleton had no choice but to live on the street for the third time—his grandmother was his only family. However, his first encounter with homelessness was by choice.

At the age of 18 Middleton felt that he needed to find himself. He moved to the streets to gain his own independence.

“Having a roommate is not my thing. There’s a lot more freedom on the street. I can’t explain it.”

After experiencing the theft of a phone that he bought himself, he soured to shelter life.

“I went to the bathroom for 20 minutes, and my phone was gone—the charger and all,” Middleton said.

He started selling Street Sense at the end of October. Characterizing himself as “a Jack of all trades, but a Master of none,” he hopes to use his interest in computers to find a job that interests him and will meet his expectations for intellectual as well as monetary sustenance.

Middleton became homeless, again, after the death of his grandmother. He describes himself as being homeless off and on for the past decade.

“She was my only family,” Middleton says. “After she died I decided to go back on the streets.”

He has his GED and hopes to experience college life someday. He describes himself as a Gothic Otaku, a person that likes anime and manga. “Some people end up saying O-taco, when they read it. I’ve read everything from Biserk to Akira. I’m not into graphic novels like X-men or stuff like that.”

When asked his favorite food, he responded, “just food.” Any food is better than no food, according to Middleton.

In five years he would like to, “have a little apartment in Japan—doin’ a little of this here and a little of that there.”