Raúl Plata, 60, enjoyed the shade of a covered South Tucson bus stop on Monday morning after visiting the library. Almost daily, Raúl goes to the library to read the papers. The Arizona Daily Star is the only paper he reads, he said. Usually, he reads the obituaries. He’ll also read front page articles that catch his eye.

Raúl’s lived in Tucson all of his live and has family in the area still. He insisted he had no story to tell. But he did…

His second wife died about five years ago from unknown causes. Since, he hasn’t dated another woman. “They’re too expensive,” he said. If it’s not make-up and nail polish they want, it’s something else, Raúl complained. “Buy me this, buy me that,” he said.

He was first married  once he was released from juvenile hall, at 21 years old. Raúl explained that he was incarcerated after killing a man out of self defense.

When Raúl was sixteen years old, a man he described as 6′ 9″  and in his 40s attempted to molest him under a Sixth Avenue bridge in Tucson. Raúl “didn’t mean to kill him,” he said. But he knew what the man was trying to do and acted to defend himself. The man was hospitalized and later died.

Raúl allowed Sally, a woman who arrived at the bus stop a few moments before we finished talking, to take a photograph of us. He hoped, “…nobody tell’s my mom I was with a new woman.”

Camera shy, Tara Inscore is 30 years old. She moved from Phoenix to Tucson in 2007. Her hobbies include “studying, speed walking, swimming, learning languages, reading, sketching, singing, a bit of acting.” Tara’s older sister resides in the area with her children and has another child on the way.

Tara is unemployed. She’s on disability because she has Bipolar Disorder as well as Post Traumatic Stress Disorder.

“I don’t see my family as often as I should, but I love them a lot,” Tara said. Depression gets in the way of her social life at times, she explained. “I don’t want to bring that mood over to them. It’s sort of a protection for them and I,” she said. However, she’s “starting to get out of that a bit,” and made a new friend in her apartment.

She thinks it’s “immensely therapeutic to speak with other people.”

This evening, she’ll have dinner with her new friend.

This week I bring to you, “Meet Me Near the Bus Stop.” I was finishing an interview with a woman at a South Tucson bus stop when I noticed a group of men standing a couple blocks away by a church. My reporter instincts kicked in, and I went, curious as a cat, to investigate the gathering.

The men were waiting for the day labor lottery outside Southside Presbyterian Church. People can have basic needs met in the mornings as well. The church offers prayer, counsel, food and a chance to bathe. One of the volunteers was standing in the crowd of about 10. Ralph Ortiz, however,  is not only a volunteer, but the founder of the program. The need for “things like this” was his inspiration for beginning the outreach program 13 years ago. The program differs from others in the community because it’s not as bureaucratic, he said. Instead of having to fill out applications and paperwork, community members can simply come and get the help they need.

Ralph came to South Tucson in 1979. He likes the culture. His brother also lives in Tucson and works for Sun Tran.

Ralph enjoys the company of others–so much so that he preferred homelessness to living in the confines of walls. Although he owned a trailer on two acres of land in Marana, Ariz. , he was homeless for about 11 years. He now rents an apartment in South Tucson, but enjoys being outdoors and around people. After homelessness, being outside becomes like an addiction, he said.

“I just left my house,” he said.

Now, however, he feels his duty to God is to help others. Volunteering is a God given desire that you do from your heart, Ralph said. The opportunity to have an impact through the program is the reason he gets up in the morning.

The program runs primarily on donations from the food banks, grants and help from the community. Other than volunteers being stretched thin when things get hectic, the program runs smoothly and continues to grow.

Meet Me at the Bus Stop author, Audrey A. Fitzsimmons stands by Florencio Mitchell, a disabled veteran, at a South Tucson bus stop on a Monday morning.

Florencio Mitchell, 83, waved two city buses by to continue telling me his story, and encourage me to report on disabled veterans — amputees to be exact.

Sure, the churches help, he said, but he doesn’t need someone to read him the Bible; he can do that on his own. He needs help getting around.

Florencio was born in Tucson and served in the United States Air Force, “21 years, nine months and 11 days.” “I didn’t count the hours,” he said jokingly as he looked down at his wristwatch.

Florencio was wounded in Thailand in 1967 when shrapnel entered his right leg after an explosion. He didn’t realize the cause of his pain until he retired from the service. He was originally hospitalized and misdiagnosed with arthritis, and then diabetes, which doctors believed was caused by exposure to Agent Orange. Eventually, after his leg continued to swell and radiated with pain, the cause was discovered, and his leg amputated.

The motorized wheelchair he sat in was a “loaner.” When his other chair broke, the technical representative he reached, after crawling over to the phone, tried to give him step-by-step instructions to repair the mechanical malfunction. Florencio said his chair is the the only way he gets around. “I’m not complaining,” he said. “I’m just sayin’.”

He hopes for more community and government support for amputees because of the physical difficulties as well as the depression associated with being a disabled veteran.

I caught Robert Park at a South Tucson bus stop March 7th, scurrying to the local Social Security Administration office. Although he was busy, Robert enthusiastically shared a bit about himself.

He was “out getting another job today,” and needed a social security card replacement to do so.

Robert moved to South Tucson about a year ago with his wife and 8-year-old child. He also has a 19-year-old he is currently not in communication with which Robert thinks “is a shame.”

He’s worked at multiple fast-food restaurants. “I work these fast-food restaurants, but I shine. I’m a star. I’m not just ‘Employee Robert.’ … I work my way up to as high as I can go.” Robert places little importance on people’s knowledge and opinion of him, but hopes God knows he tries his best.

Robert doesn’t consider himself very religious but sees importance in knowing God and reading the Bible. His relationship has helped him through life’s trials “many of times,” he said.

He thanks all who take the time to hear his story.

Today’s featured profile has some similarities to last week’s personality. Brandy Harms, a 25-year old mother of two, has lived in Arizona for about 23 years. “I like it; it’s hot,” she said.

I met her Tuesday afternoon at the same bus stop I was at last week where she waited with her two children and significant other. Her children are 2 and 5. The five year-old flexed his muscles during the interview to show how tough, like a superhero he is. “Why are you doing a show?,” he asked.

After enjoying her son’s sense of humor she responded, “I work in the laudry room at the career center.” Brandy seems to share her son’s sense of humor and explained,  ”I take the bus to work; from work. Catching the bus right now.”

Unfortunately, the interview was cut short, but not before a quick family photo.

Click to hear Brandy Harms audio clip.

L

Lee Geyer waits at South Tucson bus stop on Monday morning

On Monday morning, Lee Geyer waited on 6th Avenue for a bus ride home. Lee stopped at the Salvation Army to get a new coffee cup.

Lee is originally from Buffalo, New York. He served in the United States Army for over eight years, traveling as far as Germany.

He has lived in Tucson for about two years. He moved to Southern Arizona for “the sun.”

Lee is looking for employment. He’s trying to avoid becoming a mechanic. He repaired tanks while enlisted in the Army. He is skilled in the automotive mechanics craft as well as computers, home restoration and wood work. He once built a deck for a woman in West Virgina. He charged her a plate of spaghetti with peas. Lee appreciates being known for for his humbleness.

Lee is the only member of his family living in Tucson. His siblings are back east and his parents both died in 2004. Lee had called his father to tell him about the heart attack he experienced and found out his father was in the hospital for the same reason. Listen to Lee tell his story.

Ricky Manuel, 52, met up with his granddaughter and a friend at a South Tucson bus stop in Barrio Libre on Friday.

Manuel grew up on the Tohono O’odham reservation. He moved to South Tucson when he was in his 30s. The amount of family members he’s had in the area has dwindled over the years. They were “drug dealers and drug users,” Manuel said. “There were a lot of people dying so they left. They broke up.”

What keeps him in the area is “the community–the people.” Manuel said South Tucson is like a family, and that’s what he likes. Others, he said, “are scared to come to South Tucson because it has a bad reputation.” He explained that the area used to have a bad reputation, but South Tucson has things to do and good people. “Don’t be scared,” he said to those that are wary of the area, “don’t be scared.”

Manuel also spent time in prison twice for murder. He was 17 years old at the time of the first murder. When he was released, he killed the man that gave him up to authorities. He served a total of 18 years for the murders.

All of Manuel’s  tattoos are from prison, he said. He explained the significance of one located on his right arm:

“My [now] ex-wife is looking through the key hole. The key’s right there but she can’t open the door–[the door] to prison. She can’t get in there.”

He also has tattoos representing Tohono O’odham, the Native American Brotherhood and the American Indian Movement. “It tells a story. Everything does.”

George Gonzales waits at 29th Street and 10th Avenue bus stop in South Tucson on Monday afternoon with an orange in hand and headphones in ears. He hopes Bus 16 will take him to a new employment opportunity.

Gonzales, 31, was recently laid off from his job as a painter. He remembers his most interesting paint job was a train restoration project in Tucson. Four years ago, with the help of his brother, Gonzales met the challenge of ensuring the updated train mirrored the old. The precision and accuracy necessary for a successful restoration made the project memorable.

He prefers to find a similar occupation but will accept “anything” that will allow him to support himself. The bachelor has no children to support but will not search for a job outside of Southern Arizona.

Gonzales was born and raised in Tucson and wants to stay close to his relatives who also reside in the region.

“This is home,” he said, “and it’s comfortable.”

Ricardo Castillo is an 18-year-old student at Project More High School, a TUSD school focused on personalizing the learning experience. Castillo waits for the bus to school each weekday at a covered stop just off of 12th Avenue.

Castillo has two brothers and a sister. He lives with his mother, her boyfriend and his grandmother. Castillo currently lives just outside South Tucson limits. The family has lived in Southern Arizona for as long as Castillo can trace back his roots.

After high school, he plans to enlist in the United States Marine Corps in order to afford post-high school education. He doesn’t think he could afford college otherwise.

With experience as a boxer, the war fighting-focused branch of the military might be a perfect fit. Castillo currently trains at Eclipse MMA in Tucson, and has a few fights under his belt. He’s also excited for the travel opportunities the military profession offers.

For the purpose of being with his family and helping financially, after completion of his service, Castillo intends to return to South Tucson.