(Photo Aric Crabb/Bay Area News Group)
Alex Thorson can relate to those in need, he was once in their shoes
BERKELEY — Alex Thorson can often be found at homeless encampments under overpasses, in abandoned buildings and public parks in the East Bay.
He doesn’t live in such an encampment – at least not anymore. Instead, the 43-year-old military veteran now visits these places as part of his work on the outreach team at the Berkeley Food and Housing Project.
“I’ve lived the life,” says Thorson, adding that some of the clients he now works with are the same people he once lived beside when he himself was homeless. “I still see people who I slept with under the same blankets.”
