This testimonial was delivered at HGP’s October First Friday event, Hope Renewed, at the Downtown Store on October 4th, 2024, following a talk from Santa Cruz Mayor Fred Keely.
Hello, my name is Charles Ian Stange, a 43-year-old originally from Berkeley, California, born on September 17, 1981, at Alta Bates Hospital. My mother, Jill Marie Blough, was just 17 and is a beautiful, easy-going, and loving person, While my father, Charles “Skip” Stange, was 26 and a hardworking free spirit.
Despite being raised by wonderful parents I unfortunately fell into drug use at a young age. I recall my first sip of alcohol, barely taller than the table, surrounded by revelers at my parents’ party. The children and I fell adrift in the chaos; that dizzying moment stands out as one of my earliest memories, just six or seven, already intrigued by the intoxicating “head change.” The glorification of drugs in media, movies, and within my community left me defenseless against the overwhelming drug culture I encountered in my early years, primarily fueled by the California weed culture ideals promoted by my older brother and his friends. While my parents and their friends casually smoked marijuana without concern, creating an environment where harder drugs could easily infiltrate my life. When I broke my hand at 13 and I was prescribed codeine I stole the bottle after my dad had put them up so I wouldn’t take more than was prescribed, and I did end up taking the whole bottle within a week. This would be my first experience with addiction, within 2 years I was smoking meth and sniffing heroin. By the time I was 18 I was a full-fledged drug addict.
I navigated through the years as a mostly functioning addict, with moments slipping away; the good times dwindled amid countless struggles, and, eventually, life became increasingly difficult to handle leading my world to spiral out of control. The more I used the more I isolated myself from friends, family and society, ultimately finding myself alone, homeless, and battling addiction while navigating the San Francisco shelter system for four grueling years moving from one shelter to another. While I could recount endless tales of struggle, hardship, hungry days and even hungrier nights, but I’ll simply say that a series of misfortunes and poor choices left me isolated on the streets of Santa Cruz, descending further into despair, surrounded only by those who, like me, were entrenched in their own hopelessness.
Fast forward through the details and I found a partner, best friend, and future mother of my child, Jill, while this dark place began to feel tolerable. I quickly realized I could steal alcohol by the shopping cart from supermarkets and resell it for hundreds a day in the flats. With the money I earned I supported our habits of meth and heroin until fentanyl struck and now people started dying all around us and all we could do was adapt… this enabled us to maintain our desolate lifestyle for 6 long years. Due to our fentanyl use we both gained considerable weight. Until one day when Jill’s best friend Brandy unexpectedly found us at our camp. Having not seen each other in nearly a year Brandy shared that a tarot reading said her best friend was pregnant, but Jill and I laughed it off convinced it couldn’t be true. However just two months later Jill mentioned feeling a kick prompting a frantic trip to the emergency room where we discovered she was already seven months along. That week we both started methadone, quit smoking meth and hoped for the best. For Jill this was her chance to escape the chaotic life we were living. We welcomed a beautiful 8-pound baby boy named Ian, meaning “gift from god.” She entered rehab, but I still had uncertainties and was out for three months while she was rebuilding her life. Eventually I went to Janus and got clean during our separation, focusing on improving myself and got into a SLE or sober living environment. With CPS involved in our lives we both did what was necessary to meet their demands. This meant calling Doctors On Duty daily to check if we needed to provide a urine analysis and participating in parent classes they facilitated. She had gained custody of Ian by the time I got it together so this meant I had to attend three one-hour supervised visits at the parent center each week with Ian, while she and Ian stayed at the shelter until they were housed. I still needed to find a job and that’s when the Homeless Garden Project came in and helped me more than I ever imagined; it provided me with a way to reconnect with society and earn a little money, allowing me to support Jill and Ian while becoming self-reliant.
“It’s difficult to articulate but having responsibilities and being trusted
to complete tasks brings a sense of fulfillment.”
Today I am excited to be the Value Added Enterprise lead trainee as part of the Value Added Enterprise team, where we spend our days on the farm caring for various herb and flower beds. Our tasks include deadheading, weeding and harvesting, after which we bundle the freshly cut herbs and flowers. The herbs are placed in drying racks while the flowers are hung in the flower shed, labeled with their names and harvest dates, to be dried and logged for transport to the workshop for processing into products sold by the Homeless Garden Project.
The Homeless Garden Project provides a space for you to practice and develop responsibility with your coworkers and peers holding you accountable for your actions. It’s difficult to articulate but having responsibilities and being trusted to complete tasks brings a sense of fulfillment. In my personal experience it has significantly changed how I viewed myself, instilling a sense of self-worth and connecting me with a network of like-minded individuals who shared a common goal: finding a path out of despair through hard work, empathy, and community. The Homeless Garden Project not only taught me about organic farming and food but also connects me with a knowledgeable and empathetic social worker whom I meet weekly, she has significantly aided my personal growth by helping me enroll in necessary classes for my career path, researching better sleep habits for myself and my child and guiding me on how to engage and actively participate in society. The Homeless Garden Project provides what we call the job series which occurs weekly in the workshop on Front Street and focuses on essential skills like résumé building and mock interviews. Local employers participate sharing insights on what they seek in candidates. Being a part of this series has significantly boosted my confidence and I was able to get help in creating a long overdue résumé. Additionally the wellness series supports both physical and mental health which I find complementary to the job series. Overall these offerings have been incredibly beneficial in helping me establish confidence in all aspects of myself whether it be as a member of society or as an employee.
I currently reside in Watsonville with my partner and the mother of my child, Jill, and our baby boy, Ian, whom I love more than I ever thought possible. I’m enrolled at Cabrillo Community College pursuing a career as a Drug and Alcohol counselor so I can assist those who have been to the same dark places as I have. The Homeless Garden Project has been instrumental in my journey and it will always hold a special place in my heart. I urge anyone who has faced chronic joblessness or experienced short-term or long-term homelessness, and is truly seeking job and need assistance and experience, to get involved with the Homeless Garden Project. It has been a tremendous support for me and many others in similar situations. For all the people behind the scenes in the project and at Janus and everyone who believed in me… thank you.