At 49, Marshall May Jr. could not remember whether he had ever taken his mom out for a meal.
Certainly not in the last 20 years when he was in and out of prison, serving seven separate terms for crimes like stealing to support his drug habit. He last held a regular job in 1994, as a front desk clerk in a Century City hotel.
But this spring May was hired as a part-time street sweeper by Chrysalis, a nonprofit serving the homeless, and that helped him land full-time work as a healthcare peer specialist for which he is now getting trained. He still does not have a place of his own, but with a job in hand, May figures he at least has a shot now. After getting back on his feet, he took his 83-year-old mom to dinner on Mother’s Day.
“It was an incredible feeling,” he said. “I spent a lot of time at the table crying.”