Marvin - “Just Around the Corner”

My name is Marvin May.

Like any of the other 8 billion people in the world, I never imagined I'd end up homeless on the streets of Skid Row in downtown Los Angeles for two years. But that's exactly what happened.

For 16 years, I worked as a set decorator in Hollywood, California. I lived in a six-bedroom, four-bathroom home in Stevenson Ranch. The only time I ever went to Skid Row was when we were filming television shows or feature films. By then, security had already cleared the area of the homeless population and the sidewalks had been power-washed. I never saw the reality of what life there was truly like.

Then everything changed.

I was incarcerated for a year, and during that time I lost everything I had worked so hard to build. When I was released, I was asked if I had somewhere to go. I didn't. I was told to go to the L.A. Mission, but that didn't work out. Before long, I found myself walking the streets of Skid Row.

To make matters worse, I could barely see. While I was incarcerated, I had to throw away my contact lenses, so I was essentially half blind, wandering unfamiliar streets. I couldn't leave California until my restitution was paid. I had no ID, no Social Security card, no address—nothing. Getting a job was impossible.

Eventually, my grandmother paid my restitution, and I later paid her back. But then COVID happened, and once again, I couldn't leave the state.

As strange as it sounds, that experience became one of the greatest turning points in my life. It humbled me quickly and opened my eyes to a world beyond the comfortable bubble I had been living in. I met some incredible people, and together we mourned the loss of some incredible friends.

Every day—and every night—I believed I wasn't going to make it off those streets.

But I did.

In 2021, I was finally able to leave California and move back to Missouri. My family had moved to California in March 1998, so returning to the place I had left all those years before was a difficult pill to swallow.

Then, on Valentine's Day 2022, my wife passed away.

Since then, I've been learning how to live on my own.

Today, I have my own apartment and I'm enrolled at OTC, studying Business and Marketing. My days of working as a set decorator on television shows and feature films may be over, but I believe there's a new life waiting for me just around the corner.

I've had quite a journey.

I don't think I would have made it through without my therapist. I prayed and asked my mom to send me an angel, and she did. That angel was my therapist.

One thing I've learned is that none of us truly knows where life will take us. Circumstances can change in an instant. But no matter what comes our way, every new day is another opportunity to be thankful, to stay humble, and to recognize how truly blessed we are.

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