A Day with Roy Gleiter

This week I spent the morning with Roy Gleiter, a man who became homeless after Hurricane Katrina.

Since the storm, the 51-year-old Gleiter and his 60-year-old mentally disturbed stepmother have been traveling the country with a wagon type trailer and living in a tent.

He has been in Oklahoma for close to four months now. For the past week or so he has been living at the intersection of U.S. 177 and Highway 15 in Kay County.

His destination is the state of Washington.

Gleiter took time from waving at traffic and tell his story to myself and photo journalist Chris Caldwell.

Gleiter says Hurricane Katrina put him and a 60-year-old mentally ill woman he calls his stepmother on the streets and they have been traveling the country ever since with a wagon type trailer infested with mice.

He says he got to this point when the storm washed him into a losing battle with government entities such as the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) trying to get help.

"I used to have a valid driver's license from Mississippi but I had no way to prove my identity to get my license," said Gleiter.

After many frustrating battles, Gleiter changed the rules of the fight and accepted the fact he was homeless and decided to try to raise awareness for those that call the sidewalks home.

"I was pushed out of Jackson, Mississippi by the police and went east. I told them that they had made the wrong man mad and that I was going to go across the country and then to Washington D.C."

Since then Gleiter and his wagon has traveled all over.

Along the way Gleiter has encountered the good and bad in people.

"I have been attacked 314 times and shot at 10 times and I have had one explosive thrown at me."

Gleiter said one person tried to frame him for murder in Miss.

"The guy killed two people and put the bodies near my tent but the police were able to track him down and I was never a suspect. I even shared my water with the investigators."

Gleiter stresses that he did not choose to become homeless but instead the choice was made for him.

"People see me and assume that I'm homeless because of a lifestyle such as drinking, crime or drugs and that is not so."

Since his journey began he has turned down offers to live rent free until he could get on his feet.

" What kind of a man would I be if I accepted, I would be selling out the cause," he says.

Gleiter's experiences in Oklahoma has been for the most part positive.

"Oklahoma should be an example to the whole country," he said. "The police have not bothered me at all. I have seen maybe 50 cops the entire time, I usually see that in a day in some places."

Despite what may seem as a tragic and scary situation to most, Gleiter still carries a positive attitude and has dreams of the future.

"This is my life and I'm just protesting," he says. "The heavenly father is in charge and he has taken my bills away. I encourage everyone to give up your Visa and Mastercard and trust Christ."

While most of us fear bankruptcy or job loss, Gleiter fears mice and moisture.

"They are my worst enemies," he said. "I have started three books and two documentaries but the mice have damaged the tapes and they eat the paper."

Gleiter says the wagon type-trailer he pulls his belongings on is nearly always infested with the rodents.

"I have been in the fields before and the field mice run up and start fighting with the wagon mice for a home. One time a snake got on board and he grew quickly."

Gleiter's other fear is the government. He believes the Central Intelligence Agency (CIA) funds the Taliban, FEMA has concentration camps in America and that the government had some9thing to do with the World Trade Center attack on Sept. 11, 2001.

He believes that food, water and energy are the three most powerful tools of the future and that a handful of soil is richer than a bank account.

Gleiter refers to himself as trash that earns the respect of others.

"If I can earn your respect by being trash you have to own up to your responsibility," he said.

He says that people have told him that he has changed their lives or someone around them.

" One day a woman gave me a hug and said I changed their lives. She then spoke of group of young kids I had visited with including a girl that got off drugs. I told her I didn't do it but God did. You have more power than you believe."

Gleiter believes that if he were to die today, he would die a legend because he feels what he is doing is motivational.

Gleiter does have dreams of improving his situation one day.

"If the heavenly father will allow, I will be a very rich and powerful and famous person one day."

He hopes to become one of the most Googled names which he believes would lead to sponsorship which would lead to an easier way to spread his message.

He said he has four daughters and 10 grandchildren in Louisville, Ky. and one day he may decided to join them. Currently one grandchild is sick with a brain tumor.

When asked why he doesn't give up the crusade and go be with her, he said he does not want to sell out the cause.

Until Gleiter decides to make a change, he will continue to survive on the generosity of people and those that offer to tow his wagon. While I was there, one lady stopped and gave him a box full of can goods. Two young men stopped and brought him a pack of smokes and purchased some gas for his generator.

My partner Chris, said another person stopped and gave him a $100 bill after I left.

Kansas is the next stop on Gleiter's journey.

At the end of his travels he hopes to have his a wagon considered an icon and himself a voice for the homeless.

"Remember if your in a car and going home your life is not that bad," he said.