Marcus Green Celebrates Perseverance

Josh Maxey

Street Sense vendor Marcus Green graduated last Friday from the Project Empowerment Program, which equips students facing employment barriers with essential job skills. During the three-week program, Green participated in interview workshops, crafted his resume, and learned professional interpersonal skills, such as pitching his personal brand.

Five days later, Green interviewed with the Department of Public Works (DPW) for the final part of Project Empowerment: the opportunity for six months of employment that is subsidized by the D.C. Department of Employment Services (DOES). He got the job!

“I’m excited for the next phase,” Green said of getting on-site work experience.

Green’s graduation came less than one year after his wife and fellow Street Sense vendor, Roberta Bear, passed in her sleep.

Green described the months following Bear’s passing as a particularly dark time in his life, but something he eventually drew inspiration from. “I’m… dedicating this year to her,” Green said. “In order for me to move forward I gotta do some things to be self-supporting.”

Project Empowerment became a step toward that independence for Green. “It awakened some goals…that had sort of like slipped between my fingers,” Green said. “So you sort of start back dreaming.”

Green acknowledged that working for DPW is a “humbling beginning” that he hopes will lead to employment that is stable enough to eventually purchase his own home. He is living with his sister, Trina Mercer, who he describes as his “foundation.” But he had an interview for transition housing—on the same day as the DOES interview—to take him just another step further on his journey toward self-sufficiency.

“I’ve been blessed,” Green said. “This is a grand and groovy opportunity for me, and I plan on making the best …of it.”

In addition to enrolling in Project Empowerment, Green began writing, listening to music and feeding birds as part of his “therapy” after his wife’s death. He recognized that he would have to work particularly hard to find emotional balance in his life.

After nearly seven months spent without Bear, Green’s writings have culminated in a book that will be self-published in the next three weeks. “That’s not a lot of time,” Green said, referring to the time since Bear’s death, “So I must be doing some things right spiritually to find a balance; to go on ‘in spite of.’”

Green says he is setting his ambitions high for his book, which describes his emotional and spiritual recovery from adversity throughout his life. He plans to send a copy to Oprah Winfrey to be considered for her famous book club. “That’s how far I’m trying to go,” he said.

For Green, who is no stranger to hardship, this period of his life—with a job interview lined up, a recent graduation and a new book—has taken a turn for the better. “Things don’t always happen to us,” Green said. “Things happen for us sometimes. … But it might look tragic at the time, you know?”

Although he credits a lot of his emotional growth to the support of his friends and family, Green’s personal perseverance is perhaps what most helped him find balance and success in recent months. “Never, never, ever give up,” Green said. “That’s a wrap. That’s it.”


Issues |Death|Education|Family|Housing|Jobs


Region |Washington DC

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