6A = THE UNIVERSITY DAILY KANSAN
HIDING IN PLAIN SIGHT
WEDNESDAY,MAY1,2002
GILMORE
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Robert Gilmore, a homeless man, lived off and on in this shed a few years ago in Deborah Engstrom's backyard. Engstrom, a coordinator for the Lawrence Interdenominational Nutrition Kitchen, offered her shed to him, and he made it into a home complete with a cot, radio and heater.
KIMBERLY THOMPSON/KANSAN
The only reason for the UN to exist is so that the different countries of the world can get together and discuss how they can make things more difficult for me if I ever went to Pakistan or Venezuela. I've never been to those countries, but I guess they're on standby just in case."
Still, Gilmore can be lucid. When pressed by a reporter, he said that he was not a fascinating subject.
"I'm about as interesting as a potato," Gilmore said. Like a potato, he said that he could be photographed and written about, but nobody would be interested.
But Deborah Engstrom, a coordinator of the Lawrence Interdenominational Nutrition Kitchen (LINK), has a different opinion about Gilmore.
"He's an enigma. That's all I know," Engstrom said "He's far from a potato."
Engstrom said she got to know Gilmore when she let him stay in the shed in her back yard on 19th Terrace south of campus.
She said that Gilmore's fantastic stories were a way he defended himself.
"The problem is, I think, he doesn't want to open himself up to hurt, to exploitation," she said. "So he often times seems to keep his distance to other people. He often says, 'I don't want people to know me well.'"
Jim Lewis, owner of Checkers Food at 23rd and Louisiana streets, used to deliver cheese, cans of peas and carrots and grape juice to Gillmore in Engstrom's shed. Gilmore would pay for the groceries with the little money he had. Lewis said that he hadn't seen Gillmore for several months.
Trouble on the streets
Gilmore has good reason to be cautious.
Engstrom said Gilmore had Retinitis Pigmentosa, a condition in which the retina of the eye slowly deteriorates and stops working - taking away his vision.
Lewis said Gilmore used to wear glasses, but they were broken and Gilmore hadn't replaced them. He added that Gilmore was now nearly blind — things appeared only as dark shadows to him — and his disability made him a target for robbery.
"Some of the other street people have taken advantage of him," Lewis said. "They've taken his shoes. They've taken his clothes. They've taken his food."
Gilmore never followed a set schedule. He usually slept behind the Dole Center until mid-morning. Then he checked the belongings he kept in a trash bag, including various medicines, blankets and food. After he folded his blankets and sleeping bags, the rest of the day might be spent looking for food or services like showers and washing machines. Otherwise, he often wandered the streets of downtown Lawrence. By evening, he usually returned to his same spot behind the Dole Center or had gone to a homeless shelter like the Salvation Army for the night.
Lieutenant Schuyler Bailey of the KU Public Safety Office said Gilmore's makeshift home behind Dole wasn't illegal, as
EVENTS IN ROBERT GILMORE'S LIFE
Dec. 10, 1957 He is born location unknown
May 1975 - He graduates from Pranson High School
1979 — He graduates from the College of the Ozarks with degrees in math and English.
1982 — He takes classes at the University of Kansas for the first time.
April 23, 1985 — He is arrested for the first time on charges of pedestrian in roadway, interference and resisting arrest
April 10, 2002 — He is involuntarily committed to a mental health hospital.
Sources: Douglas County court records, College of the Ozarks registrar's office, 1982 KU Telephone Directory
long as he used the campus buildings in the way they were meant to be used.
He also said that Gilmore was a rarity. The police seldom deal with the homeless on campus.
"With the entire city and shelters and places to get food — all off campus — there's not a lot of draw for them here at the University," Bailey said.
Ashley Milford, director of social services at the Salvation Army, said most of the homeless people she knew spent little time on campus.
"There's the shelter that's available for them, so that gives them a place to stay with their friends. Just like any other person, they like to be around those that they know," Milford said. "Another reason why might be the intimidation of the campus itself. The college students on the campus. The police constantly
His life on the street has caused crossed paths with local law enforcement. His criminal record in Lawrence began in 1985 when he was arrested for walking in the middle of the street and resisting arrest. His record continued with similar incidents — two each in 1988 and 1990 and an arrest for trespassing in 1994.
patrolling."
There was an incident almost every year after 1994. He was arrested in 1995 for walking in the street and 1996 on the same charge of pedestrian in roadway. He was arrested for disorderly conduct in 1998 when he tried to bathe in a fountain at Water's Edge, 847 Indiana St., and disobeyed a police order to leave. He was arrested for trespassing at Water's Edge again in 1999. Finally, he was arrested in 2000 for failure to obey a police officer.
Bailey said that campus safety officers had to deal with Gilmore when they found him walking in the street or causing a disturbance, but the calls about Gilmore usually came from people who wanted to help him.
"There are very few complaints. It's more of concerns," Bailey said. "When he's sleeping, people want us to check on him and see that he's all right."
Engstrom said that she thought Gilmore stayed on campus because he once took classes at the University or because he enjoyed the academic atmosphere. Engstrom said that Gilmore had tried to march in homecoming parades and walk down the hill with graduates.
Promising beginnings
Student directories list Gilmore as a non-degree-seeking student from Point Lookout, Mo., for the years 1982 to 1985, 1991 to 1992 and 1997 - incli-
dentally the times when he was not running into trouble with local law enforcement. Sources say that he took classes in aerobics and German, but it didn't appear that he was ever a regular student at the University.
Before he came to the University of Kansas, Gilmore earned degrees in math and English in 1979 from the College of the Ozarks in Point Lookout, Mo., according to the registrar's office at the college. The office also said he came to the college in 1975 from nearby Branson High School.
Brenda Romine, director of communications for the Branson School District, went to high school with Gilmore and remembered that both he and his brother Jerry Gilmore dressed in suits and carried briefcases to each class. She said that he was at the top of his class academically but not socially.
"He did seem to have the capability of acquiring and keeping a job and would be self-sufficient," Romine said. "I'm saddened that he is unable to care for himself."
A chosen path
Although he attracted curiosity at the University, some say that he choose his lifestyle.
Steve Fabac, manager of the Kwik Shop at 845 Mississippi St., said Gilmore used to come into his store frequently to buy food and trash bags. He said Gilmore didn't have to live on the streets if he didn't want to.
"There are people that have offered to help him in out of the elements," Fabac said. "He just chooses to live that way. I think it's sad, but you can't help those who don't want to help themselves."
Engstrom said that Gilmore had a desire for control over his own life, which could frustrate those who wanted to help him.
KIMBERLY THOMPSON/KANSAN
Robert Gilmore's blankets lie where he used to sleep near the north side of the Dole Human Development Center. Lieutenant Schuyler Bailey of the KU Public Safety Office said the blankets would stay there unless the office received a complaint.
kansan.com
"A lot of us in the helping arena, we want to think we're in control and we're going to fix you. We're going to take care of you. We're going to project our standards onto you and make you well," Engstrom said. "And you can't do that with Simon because he's not going to let you."
Read how Pracht gathered the information for this story.
She said that Gilmore could be pushy in getting what he wanted when he wanted it. For example, Gilmore would refuse to come into the LINK building during regular meal hours because he thought the other people there didn't like him. He would later show up at an odd time and want food.
But Engstrom said she thought Gilmore was an intelligent man who truly cared about people. Though he sometimes expected help at inconvenient times, Engstrom said that Gilmore was always polite about it. Engstrom said she appreciated his love of science fiction, poetry and humor. He would often ask about her foster children and her health when she was recovering from a hospital stay.
"He's a delightful person. He can be a delightful person," she said. "And he can also drive me right up the wall when he wants something done and I don't have the time to do it."
She said that Gilmore was meticulously clean and added a cot, radio and heater to her little shed.
"It's clear to me after that experience that he wants a home on some level." Engstrom said, "Because he really fixed up that shed. Instead of just putting stuff in it, he did his best to make it a home."
But at the same time, Fabac said that Gilmore wore diapers and had frequently come into his Kwik Shop smelling bad. Fabac asked him to leave to protect his other customers from the smell. He said Gilmore once came into the store wearing nothing but a clear plastic trash bag because he was cleaning his clothes in the laundromat across the street.
After spending time with Gilmore, Engstrom said she saw signs of obsessive compulsive disorder, which causes a person to feel need to repeat certain rituals.
Engstrom said Gilmore appeared to be afraid of germs. He washed his hands in scorching hot water repeatedly, wore gloves constantly, requested double baggings for any purchases and would not take anything unless it was first set down.
"I guess if I had to say there was an issue that interferes with his active daily living, that would be it more than anything," Engstrom said.
According to the National Resource Center on Homelessness and Mental Illness, 39 percent of homeless people report some form of mental health problem.
Frank deNoyelles, professor of psychology, said that changes
in mental health care during the late 1960s and early 1970s attempted to move the mentally ill from hospitals and psychiatric wards into the community. He called that policy a good idea that faced practical problems.
"Unfortunately, the resources didn't follow in the amounts that were needed," deNoyelles said. "So what we end up with are a significant population that, perhaps in another time, would be in the hospital for a couple weeks or months but are now out in the community, but are still not functioning very well and so are unable to hold a job or unable to pay for housing."
The road back
it is difficult to say when — or if — Gilmore will be released from involuntary commitment. An attorney at the hospital said involuntarily committed patients went through a series of psychological reviews, with the period between each review increasing with time. Gilmore could be released tomorrow, years from now or never.
But Engstrom said Gilmore's need of control, more than his disabilities, kept him on the streets.
"He wants the services, but he doesn't want the services," she said. "He wants the services on his own terms."
Engstrom said that if Gilmore were released from the hospital, there would be legal requirements placed upon him such as psychological treatment and maintaining a permanent address. She said Gilmore had contacted her from the hospital and asked if she would allow him to use her address as the one to which he could be released. Engstrom refused because she said she knew that Gilmore would just want to live on the streets. She said she wouldn't be a part of the deception.
Gilmore might return to his spot near the Dole Center—his blankets are still there, and Bailey of KU Public Safety said he wouldn't disturb them unless the office received a complaint.
"No one's turned them into lost and found," he said. "If it's trash, it's probably better suited for Facilities Operations to handle it."
Engstrom said she felt certain that Gilmore would return to the streets of Lawrence and possibly to the University and the Dole Center once again.
"When it comes right down to it, this is his preferred lifestyle," Engstrom said.
Before he was committed, Gilmore said that he grew up with the planet and planned to still be living behind the Dole Center when the earth died.
"In the end, it's going to be the cockroaches, me and this building," he said.
Contact Pracht at apracht
@kansan.com. This story was edited by Molly Gise.
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