Willie Alexander Willie Alexander was born November 12, 1958 in Enfield, N. C. and lived a somewhat nomadic life. As a child, he moved to New York, where he graduated from Franklin K. Lane High School. After enlisting in the Army National Guard, he took a lateral move to the U.S. Marine Corps, where he served as an active duty cook until he was classified as disabled and released with an honorable discharge. Willie then moved to San Francisco, where he earned a diploma in Culinary Arts; to San Jose, where he worked as a cook for the Fairmount Hotel; to Richmond, where he worked for Denny’s restaurant chain; and finally, to Washington D.C., where was unable to secure adequate employment due to his disability. Consequently, he resorted to living in the CCNV shelter and obtaining other necessities on the D.C. streets. He became homeless when his mother passed away; then he got divorced. “I was unable to recover fully from that experience, and I allowed my credit to suffer as a consequence of depression,” Willie said. Currently, Willie is earning money as a Street Sense vendor and is eligible to work 20 hours per week, given his disability. Of Willie’s many talents, one that stands out is his great skill as a Gospel pianist. His favorite movie is “Foxy Brown and Superfly” and his favorite book is The Holy Bible.