Homeless man brings out kinder side of humanity

By Jessica Coleman
Staff Writer
January 2017 may go down as the time when a man in a tent stole Jackson County’s collective heart.
He calls himself “Bicycle Bill,” and for a short time, he made his temporary home under the East St. overpass, near McDonald’s in Edna.
Posts started popping up on social media, saying things like “There is a homeless man under the overpass. How can we help?” and “Has anyone checked on Bill this morning? It was very cold last night.”
Residents took him food, toiletries, warm drinks, and even an extra tent to take back to his friends in Victoria, constantly asking if he would like a motel room or a sofa in their homes, and he told each of them “I’m where I’m the most comfortable.”
From the perspective of some, Bill is a homeless man, but from his own view, he is more of a nomad, choosing to live outside of society’s constraints and rules. He insists he doesn’t beg or panhandle, but people do choose to help him out of the goodness of their hearts, and in return, he shares his faith with them, jubilantly telling anyone who will listen about God and, remarkably, how blessed he is to be saved. He warns of end times, and tells visitors to be prepared to stand up for their faith, as he is prepared to stand up for his.
“As long as I have my heavenly Father, I have all I need,” he insisted, “The Lord has provided me with all I need, and more.”
During his stay in Edna, many of the things Bill did request, when asked what he needed, were things he says he is taking back to Victoria for others, and he said he is happy to live a life free from greed and stress over material things.
By Sunday, there wasn’t a trace of physical evidence Bill had even been in Edna, judging from his spot under the overpass. His tent, blankets, everything he’d collected along the way, had gone with him back to Victoria to spread the love shown to him by Edna residents, in the form of supplies.
However, he insisted he would be back someday, if only for a short time. God’s plan for him, he said, takes him all over the nation, although at 62 years old he claims he is getting too old for the mountains.
“I think I’ll stay in Texas,” he said, clutching his Atlas.