"I got a lot of help from different places, but I didn't know about this [service] until somebody else that was homeless told me about it," he said. "So I just want to give back a little something."
James Crawford was part of a quartet that opened the service with song. He works for Bmore Housing for All, an advocacy group, after spending four years on the street.
Crawford, 56, grew up in Pennsylvania and joined the military after high school. He said he earned a college degree after being discharged from the military and eventually became vice president of an insurance company before injuries suffered in an auto accident put him out of work.
He said he eventually lost his home and could not get relief from the lingering effects of the accident. In 1999, Crawford found himself sleeping on sidewalks.
"I couldn't get any medication, so I turned to alcohol to try and ease the pain," he said. "All it did was make my life worse. But thanks to some good people and an act of God, I was able to get out of that."
Crawford said he stopped drinking and reached out for help.
A social services group helped find him a place to stay, and he was able to find work as an activist for the homeless. He figures that he is likely to be busy in the coming months.
"It's only going to get worse now with the economy the way it is," Crawford said.
He said that he would like to assist with a program that would provide work for homeless people through the rehabbing of houses.
Yesterday's memorial service showed that anyone can be left homeless, Crawford said.
"It puts a face on the homeless," he said. "Most people walk by and they see us, see people who are homeless, and think they're just a lump of nothing. But these are people, too. These are your fellow citizens."
