Formerly homeless Ogden man adapts to new, housed life after decades on street
Doug "Boy Scout" Harding's Central Ogden neighborhood is reflected in the screen door Wednesday, May 25, 2016, as he works on his bike on his apartment porch. Harding, who describes himself as a "retired hobo," moved into the apartment in January after several decades of hopping trains and living on the streets.
Doug Harding's couch sits in the dumpster behind his apartment Aug. 29, 2016, as he was considering moving out. Harding compared the grey cinderblock walls of his apartment to a prison cell. "I'm tired of being in prison," Harding said. "I'm breaking out."
Doug Harding rolls a cigarette after leaving the Salt Lake City Justice Court on Tuesday, Sept. 6, 2016. Harding hoped he'd get sentenced to community service but was worried he could end up going to jail. Since Harding is actively turning his life around, the judge declared him guilty on the charge but took no further action in the case.
Doug Harding picks up his monthly allotment of groceries at the Joyce Hansen Hall Food Bank on May 25, 2016. Four months after moving into his apartment, Harding was working the odd landscaping and maintenance job.
Doug Harding, left, watches as "Bam Bam," a homeless friend, works on his bike on Harding's porch on May 25, 2016. Bam Bam stopped by Harding's place to see if he could store some bicycles there.
Doug Harding takes a break from cleaning out his living room Aug. 29, 2016, as he got ready to abandon his apartment and return to camping on the outskirts of Ogden. "Society didn't give up on me," Harding said. "I gave up on them." After seven months in housing, Harding was broken down by what he saw as his homeless friends taking advantage of him and his apartment. As of Tuesday, Sept. 13, however, Harding was still living in the public assistance housing.
OGDEN — They called him a Boy Scout. Nobody ever said he was an angel.
Doug Harding spent the better part of the last three decades homeless, hopping freight trains and living with the nickname “Boy Scout” — a moniker earned because he had a tendency to help other homeless individuals.
Then in January, the Weber Housing Authority, working with the Cooperative Agreement to Benefit Homeless Individuals, helped get Harding into an apartment using Shelter Plus Care, a state program for the chronically homeless with disabilities. Harding’s disability relates to a substance abuse problem.
By and large, the 57-year-old’s transition from homeless to housed has been a textbook success story for social services. But there have been a few bumps along the road — mostly as his past comes back to haunt him.
-
-
Doug “Boy Scout” Harding’s Central Ogden neighborhood is reflected in the screen door Wednesday, May 25, 2016, as he works on his bike on his apartment porch. Harding, who describes himself as a “retired hobo,” moved into the apartment in January after several decades of hopping trains and living on the streets.
-
-
Doug Harding’s couch sits in the dumpster behind his apartment Aug. 29, 2016, as he was considering moving out. Harding compared the grey cinderblock walls of his apartment to a prison cell. “I’m tired of being in prison,” Harding said. “I’m breaking out.”
-
-
Doug Harding rolls a cigarette after leaving the Salt Lake City Justice Court on Tuesday, Sept. 6, 2016. Harding hoped he’d get sentenced to community service but was worried he could end up going to jail. Since Harding is actively turning his life around, the judge declared him guilty on the charge but took no further action in the case.
-
-
Doug Harding picks up his monthly allotment of groceries at the Joyce Hansen Hall Food Bank on May 25, 2016. Four months after moving into his apartment, Harding was working the odd landscaping and maintenance job.
-
-
Doug Harding, left, watches as “Bam Bam,” a homeless friend, works on his bike on Harding’s porch on May 25, 2016. Bam Bam stopped by Harding’s place to see if he could store some bicycles there.
-
-
Doug Harding takes a break from cleaning out his living room Aug. 29, 2016, as he got ready to abandon his apartment and return to camping on the outskirts of Ogden. “Society didn’t give up on me,” Harding said. “I gave up on them.” After seven months in housing, Harding was broken down by what he saw as his homeless friends taking advantage of him and his apartment. As of Tuesday, Sept. 13, however, Harding was still living in the public assistance housing.
The latest bump came Tuesday, Sept. 6, when Harding was ordered to appear in Salt Lake City Justice Court on a bench warrant stemming from a July 2009 incident.
Court records show Harding was charged with disturbing the peace and battery in connection with the incident, though they don’t reveal specific details about what happened. Harding admits to disturbing the peace — he and his brother hooked their trucks together with a chain and played tug-of-war, he said. He disputes that battery charge, which he said stems from accusations he dragged a woman by her hair.
In 2012, the battery charge was dismissed with prejudice in exchange for Harding pleading guilty to disturbing the peace. As part of the abeyance agreement, he was supposed to pay a $100 fine, be screened for domestic violence and complete a domestic violence program.
Harding didn’t fulfill any of the conditions, so the judge declared him guilty of disturbing the peace this month. Since he had no other incidents on his record, the judge closed the case with no further action taken.
Harding said he’s relieved to have it all behind him, even though the conviction will show up on his record.
“If this put me in jail, all this would have been for nothing,” Harding said of his transition from the ranks of the homeless.
Before his court appearance, Harding hinted that if things didn’t go well, he might consider taking up the homeless life again.
“I gotta get this taken care of today,” he said. “Otherwise, Vegas is looking pretty good.”
The last eight months haven’t been easy for Harding. He’s not used to staying in one place or living so close to people, and occasionally that frustration boils over.
“I’ve been drinking about every week and a half,” he said. “Things build up, and I have to do something. Everybody locks their doors when they see me coming home with a bottle of whiskey.”
Laura Peters is a special programs case manager for Weber Housing Authority. She’s been working closely with Harding — she visits him at his apartment monthly and usually gets a call from him at least once a week — and admires his commitment to getting off the streets.
“He’s one of my favorites,” Peters said. “I wish I had more like him. He really is trying, he does try.”
Peters said she occasionally gets a call or visit from Harding telling her he’s thinking about going back to living outdoors, as if it’s an all-or-nothing proposition. She explains to him that people who aren’t homeless can still go camping.
“He’s told me several times, ‘I could be out camping, and maybe I would be happier if I were out there.'” Peters said. “I was like, ‘You can camp if you want. You can go ground yourself for a little while and get back to what you know. It’s not like you can’t come back and have a shower.’ “
Harding said the pressure of remaining housed has been getting to him lately. And the notice to appear in court didn’t help, either.
“I was distraught,” he said. “My sister-in-law took me to Duchesne to stay in a tent for a few days. And I went with my brother to Payson Lakes and caught nine fish.”
A visit to Harding’s apartment shows recent changes he’s made. He’s emptied out the front room, getting rid of a couch, recliner and 27-inch television.
“I put the TV back in the dumpster where I found it,” he said.
The idea, according to Harding, is to make the apartment less comfortable for unwanted house guests.
One of the many rules for the public assistance housing Harding enjoys is that no one else is allowed to live in the apartment.
“That’s the big thing for the homeless,” said Andi Beadles, executive director of the Weber Housing Authority. “When one gets an apartment, then everybody else expects they have a place to stay, and everybody goes to that place.”
Beadles says the group mentality among the homeless makes it extremely difficult to say no to someone who wants to crash at your place. But she also says it’s the quickest way to find yourself homeless again.
“That’s something we battle all the time,” Beadles said. “It’s the No. 1 reason the homeless lose their housing — because they house all their friends, and they just have such a hard time saying no to them, because they helped each other on the street.
“It’s something we have to constantly remind them about, so that’s a really good sign that Doug is putting his foot down.”
Peters calls Harding “savvy” for not allowing people in his life who are going to make him lose what he’s got.
“That’s been really hard for him, to turn his back on people that were his friends, who are now coming by and looking for a freebie,” Peters said. “He’s had to say to them, ‘I can’t give you what I don’t have, and you’re going to take everything away from me.’ He’s had a hard time and lost of lot of friends over this.”
Harding said he’s been a marked man among his homeless friends since getting his apartment.
“They don’t care about your housing or nothing,” he said. “They just want a place to stay for a night. But one night turns into a week.”
And, Harding said, people were showing up with stolen bikes, stereos and power tools, looking for a place to stash them.
Peters said the next logical step for Harding is be a job. He’s a willing, hard worker.
“The people he does odd jobs for? They keep coming back,” she said.
Certainly, social workers are trying to take baby steps with Harding when it comes to economic self-sufficiency, but Peters isn’t sure Harding will ever be ready for a normal, full-time job. She isn’t sure she’d want him to conform to what is considered “normal.”
“He’s a free spirit,” she said. “You’ve got to let the peacock fly. I think it would kill him inside, physically and mentally, to have that tether to a regular job.”
Harding has talked about getting his own little lawn care company up and running someday, but he doesn’t think he’d ever be able to stomach the typical nine-to-five job.
Harding said he is currently seeing a woman.
“We’re thinking about maybe doubling up,” he said, but not in inner-city Ogden. “We want a more rural setting.”
Like Harding, the woman struggles with substance abuse. “She’s having a bout with heroin,” he said. “I told her, ‘You quit that (stuff), and you’ve got me all the time.” They’ve been seeing each other for about a month now, and Harding figures they might actually be good for one another.
“Maybe the old man upstairs is trying to send her a Boy Scout,” he quipped.
An angel? No. But a Boy Scout? Possibly.
Contact Mark Saal at 801-625-4272 or msaal@standard.net. Follow him on Twitter at @Saalman. Like him on Facebook at facebook.com/SEMarkSaal.