Every Sunday, Chuck Suess begins his day by sitting at the tables outside Panera Bread. He gets to the popular brunch place as early as 6a.m. and sits there watching and saying hello to customers and passersby. He would often see familiar faces: a man and his girlfriend bringing cakes, a group of girls walking to Dunkin for coffee, and a few people carrying cameras heading into Panera for a breakfast sandwich. He would make conversation with them, so often that they know each other by name; so often that they would often hand Suess a piece of cake or a cup of hot coffee as they pass by him. “I’m a nice guy,” Suess said, “I pat myself on the back for that.”
Chuck Suess was born in Pittsburg, Pennsylvania on November 11, 1961. In 1973, however, Suess and his family moved to Foxborough, Massachusetts, where Suess worked in the cement business for 32 years until his right foot "caved in” on him. Leaving him unable to work and without a home, Suess moved to Boston because there were more shelters in the city.” I never thought in a million years this would happen to me, but it does. It happens to the best of us,” Suess said.
After Suess hurt his foot, he lost his job and his home that he was renting out with his girlfriend in Foxborough for $1,400 a month. She eventually left him to take care of “her dying parents,” leaving Suess to move into a motel with the little money that he had. That was almost 10 years ago, and just recently, Suess can proudly say that he is a homeowner once again. Thanks to the kindness of many people, he was able to get an apartment in Dorchester just a couple of months ago. “I’m telling you, ever since I’ve been going to this Hillsong Church, good things have been happening to me. First it was the Blue Man Group, then I got an apartment, and now a TV,” Suess said.
As the colder months are coming, Suess feels grateful that he finally has some place warm to stay during the winter. “I’ve been out here plenty of winters and it’s freezing,” he said. Although he has received many gloves and jackets throughout his ten years of homelessness, nothing compares to being able to sit at home and watch football, away from the wet snow.
As great as owning an apartment is, it also has its downsides. Suess enjoys staying in his apartment, but he also knows that he could use that time to go out and make some money. “Since I got my apartment, I haven’t been out as much,” Suess said. The time he used to have to sit on the streets and make some money, he uses now to sit at home and watch football. “All I do is sit at home and eat, so all the little food I get, I eat it all up,” he said, “And I love to eat.”
“It’s hard to make a living without money. Money makes the world go round, believe me, it does.”
- Chuck Suess
On some days, people will be kind enough to give Suess a cup of hot coffee and some food, which he would save up to store at home. On other days, he would have to go to the grocery store and spend the money he has made there. But whether or not he can afford it, Suess’s favorite food will always be pizza. “I can eat pizza cold any day of the week, any time. I can eat it in the morning, in the middle of the night, any time,” he said.
Other than eating and a game of football, Suess enjoys making conversation with the people who pass by him. Because he routinely sits in the same spot, people who are regulars of Tremont street know where to find him and have become friends with him. “All these shows—the Wang, the Wilbur—I know all the people working them,” Suess said with a smile, “I know the managers, I know the people and it’s because I’m not a jerk to people and I respect people the way I want to be treated.”
If living on the streets had taught Suess one thing, it’s to treat others the way he himself wants to be treated. He said that because of his own kindness, he has in turn received kindness from strangers. “I don’t burn bridges,” Suess said. He recalled the time he was given $50 because gave back a $100 bill that a guy had dropped in front of CVS. “Now every time he sees me, he gives me five or ten dollars.” And this didn’t just happen once. Suess retold a story of when he gave back the money that blew out of a guy’s wallet, and ended up receiving one of the 20-dollar bills that flew out. “When you’re a homeless person and you need monetary favors, you don’t burn bridges because you’re going to need that favor again from somebody and they will respect that,” Suess said.
That’s what it’s about, you know, you gotta be fair to people. Fair is the word. That’s what Jesus likes: fair people and honest people.
- Chuck Suess
Around his neck is a brass necklace called a “homeless cross.” According to Suess, he has had about 10 of these. “There’s a girl and she used to come into the shelter or the clinic I used to go to,” he said, “and on Sunday, she had mass, and when she was done, she would give these out to the homeless.” Because he has so many, Suess hands out his homeless cross necklaces to his friends. One of Suess’ friends, a bouncer at a nearby nightclub, decided to hang his necklace on his windshield. “One day, the cross broke the windshield because it was so heavy!” Suess said, laughing.
Suess grew up in a Catholic home, where his mother used to take him and his siblings to mass every Sunday. And it wasn’t until around four months ago that Suess started going to church again. “I hop in the shower at five in the morning, and shaved at 4:30 in the morning. I can’t wait to get here!” Suess said with a smile. Sometimes, he said, he would lie at night and wait as he watched the minutes tick by. At church, Suess knows his spot—a red couch to the right of the stage. He greets everyone with a smile and a hug. “I love the hugs at church,” he said, “they make me feel wanted and loved.”
Suess is currently working on getting a bus disability pass which would allow him to travel to and from his apartment in Dorchester. Suess said he sometimes gets “bored” at home but he can’t always leave whenever he wants to because bus tickets are expensive. “It’ll probably be another week and I’ll be able to get that [disability pass],” he said. “That will help out a lot.”
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