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$5.00

I KNOW THE
FEELING

BY EDWARD SMALLS
My story of love, loss,
homelessness, and hope.

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A VOICE AND INCOME FOR
THOSE FACING HOMELESSNESS

Speak Up equips people facing homelessness with a
magazine that releases their voice and gives them a
chance to work. As they buy and sell Speak Up maga­
zines, they discover dignity, develop new skills, and get
on a pathway off the streets.

Speak Up is a 501(c)3 nonprofit.

Your tax-deductible support is vital.

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I KNOW THE
FEELING
By Edward Smalls

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I grew up in the country in a little town twenty miles
south of Charleston.

All my family is still there.

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We weren’t rich but it was good childhood.

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I used to love to hunt and fish.

I killed a lot of squirrels, raccoons, rabbits and deer.

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When I was thirteen or fourteen, I had a bolt-action
12 gauge six shot.

The gun would turn you upside down. You had to hold
it right or it would knock you down.

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Guns are a serious thing.

You have to use good judgement because a gun is a
dangerous tool.

You have to use your head.

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Getting mad at someone and killing someone…that’s
not the way.

I know the feeling of losing someone.

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I lost my son to gun violence.

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It happened in 2012.

We’d been together for 36 years, since he was born.

We had a good relationship. We were friends—father
and son, but friends too.

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They lured him into a back street and shot him three
times in the chest.

I couldn’t give the slightest reason why someone would
have killed him.

I don’t know why that happened.

I really don’t. I know that he loved to be out with ev­
erybody. He was a nice person, as far as I know. There
must have been some kind of misunderstanding that
he and someone had, and he got lured into the wrong
place and got killed.

I don’t know why he got killed.

I wasn’t there and he was.

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The law never found out who killed him or why.

I just left the area before I killed someone. It would
have probably been the wrong person.

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I needed to go somewhere so I came to Charlotte.

I was homeless for awhile but now my life is more
stable. Things are going well for me.

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Now I often go back to Charleston to visit my family.

I take the bus back there and visit my mother on all the
holidays. My son had two kids. I still see my grandkids
every time I go to Charleston.

They are doing great.

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I do miss my son.

I just miss him. I miss him, that’s all I can say. I miss
him every day.

I miss him.

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CAN YOU GIVE?
YES, YOU CAN!

Speak Up exists because you make it exist. Readers become fi­
nancial partners who make tax-deductible gifts to pay for mag­
azine production and printing, training and supplies for homeless
entrepreneurs.

CHECKS TO:

SPEAK UP
501 Hawthorne Lane
Charlotte, NC 28204

GIVE ONLINE:

SPEAKUPMAG.ORG

FACING HOMELESSNESS?
THEN CHANGE THINGS!

If you are facing homelessness, you can write for Speak Up and sell the
magzine. Your first 20 copies of the magazine are free. You’ll sell them
for $5 per copy and keep all the cash! Then you can buy more mag­
azines for $1 each–and you always keep the money from your sales.

CHARLOTTE, NC
Visit us on the first Thursday every month at 2:00 PM.

ANYWHERE IN USA
SPEAKUPMAG.ORG/PARTNER