NEW YORK—Vance Hinton wore a polished suit and tie while sitting outside of the Citicorp atrium in Midtown Manhattan, blending in with a sharp group of businessmen chatting nearby.
At second glance, Hinton’s suit doesn’t have the same chic cut as the others, but the poised, agile look in his eye doesn’t make you second guess his status. Hinton, however, is homeless.
He refuses to be called homeless, though. The correct term, he says, is undomiciled. “The term homeless dredges up a negative connotation, with the assumption being that homeless people are unkempt, incapable, and unintelligent,” said Hinton, who has a plan to lift that stereotype.
The definition of domicile in the online Merriam-Webster dictionary is “a dwelling place; a place of residence.”
Hinton’s Story
Hinton graduated from SUNY–Plattsburgh in 1979 with a major in communications. He also holds an associate’s degree from the SUNY Agricultural and Technical College at Canton, and left the Henry School of Social Science as an honors graduate in political economy in 2007.
He has held various authoritative positions, such as the associate director of Mind-Builders Creative Arts Center, the youth director of the Harlem YMCA, as well as the president of ABOWCIA, Inc., a website design company.
Hinton’s past career paid well enough for him to travel the world, including destinations in Egypt, Greece, Israel, Thailand, and the Bahamas.
He has often taught seminars, such as “Understanding the Business of Health Insurance Designed for Agency Social Workers and Administration,” at Catholic Charities in the Bronx. This fall, Hinton will be teaching an economics seminar at the Citicorp atrium—all while homeless, or undomiciled.
After a series of unfortunate events in his personal life in 2003, Hinton became homeless and began sleeping in Central Park on 103rd St.
To evade park authorities, Hinton slept on a picnic blanket instead of a sleeping bag. At the time, he still held a marketing job at a health insurance company. The smacks of a raccoon’s tail were his morning alarm to get up for work. He kept this up for three years until he was let go.
Although Hinton has not had a home in nine years, he maintains his ambition and positive outlook on life. Hinton rises at 4 a.m. every morning, washes, does his daily yoga and capoeira (a Brazilian form of martial arts). He stays up to date with current events by reading The Wall Street Journal and The New York Times.
One can reach him through email, which he checks at the Apple Store. “I get 10-minute hits at a time. That’s right, I’m that person,” Hinton joked. When the security guard asks him to leave, Hinton comes back wearing a different hat and uses another 10 minutes of free Internet.
Hinton also takes on volunteer work. He volunteers at Saint Bartholomew’s Church, soup kitchens, clothing distribution centers, weekly Haiti and Ghana clothing drives, and the Gelman Foundation for biweekly food and clothes drive at the Citicorp atrium. He also often attends public and private meetings that affect the undomiciled.
His set, productive schedule allows him to maintain his dignity and ambition—a secret he wants to share through his Undomicile Project.
The Undomicile Project
In 2011, Hinton began toying with the idea of bringing dignity, and maybe, just maybe, even finding jobs for the undomiciled. He began talking to people about it at the start of this year.
Hinton’s pioneering plan consists of bringing the undomiciled to assist not-for-profit organizations with painting, plumbing, gardening, etc. But there’s a catch—the work will be done for free.
Well, what is the point of that?
Although neither Hinton nor the other undomiciled will be paid in the process, they will be doing something meaningful. Most importantly, they will be doing it together as a team. He believes this simple act of kindness will not only help the non-profits, but most importantly, it will help the undomiciled combat loneliness and depression, bringing them a step further in getting their lives back on track—together.
With all the volunteer work that Hinton does, he knows the secrets of the trade. He could easily help the undomiciled get new clothes, some food, and take a shower. His own fresh suit was donated by Midnight Run, a non-profit organization that makes over 1,000 trips a year to donate food, clothing, blankets, and personal care items to the homeless in New York City.
Hinton has already set up agreements with non-profits such as Crossroads Community Services, Saint Peter’s Lutheran Church, Mind-Builders Creative Arts Center, and the Brooklyn Queens Land Trust, to allow Undomicile Project members to undertake volunteer work, starting in September.
“Some non-profits are stretched to the umpteenth degree, and we want them to know we can help make a difference,” Hinton said. “That’s really what we’re all about.”
Hinton is currently filing for 501(c)6 status. If it goes through, the title can bring in private donor support.
Once donations come in, he plans to create a counseling support group to help the undomiciled with job training, drug rehabilitation, or simply get interview opportunities.
Early Life
Elnora Johnson, Hinton’s grandmother, left an indelible mark on Hinton’s view of the world. She was a celebrated pastor who often spoke on radio shows across the country.
Before Hinton’s time, his grandmother often brought struggling people back to their home. Hinton recalls his aunt’s stories of being forced to give pretty dresses away to their underprivileged guests.
Hinton was born into the housing projects of Harlem. One of Hinton’s earliest memories of leaving the projects is visiting his grandmother in New Rochelle. She lived on a large, suburban estate that was later sold to Ossie Davis, a famed African-American actor.
Hinton recalls being mesmerized by the glow of fireflies in his grandmother’s backyard. He spent the evening catching a few, which he placed in a jar, and then put the lid on. He woke up the next morning to find no life inside the jar.
“I must have bawled for a whole week, couldn’t get over it,” he said.
From a young age, caring for fellow living beings, no matter how big or small, has always been of the highest importance for Hinton.
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