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Articles
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| Gabriel Brow and Ready to Work Making a clean sweep |
VOICE writes, "
Gabriel Brow and Ready to Work Making a clean sweep
BY JOSHUA GRAY
Gabriel Brow isn’t wearing his cape to the interview on Pennsylvania Avenue, but it’s easy enough to pick him out from the lunchtime crowd. Even without his signature accessory, Brow stands apart in button-down D.C.; he’s the hyperkinetic bundle of energy in the blue jumpsuit. Brow’s head is shaved, studs sparkle in each ear and his eyebrows are trimmed into an arch of permanent marvel.
I must be the only person on Capitol Hill who doesn’t already know Gabriel Brow. The tape of our interview is interrupted regularly by salutations, shouts out, sly jokes and quick banter. “Hey, hey, what’s up?” calls Brow. “Alright, lookin’ good!” He shakes hands, slaps backs, high fives. Patti Brosmer, executive director of the Capitol Hill Business Improvement District created the position of Quality Control Ambassador especially for Brow, and he seems born to the role."
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Just a handful of months ago, Brow’s situation was very different. Born in Takoma Park, he waged a long battle with drug and alcohol abuse, a serial ne’er-do-well who couldn’t break the cycle of addiction. “I’d get cleaned up a couple of months, get a job, reestablish my financial stability, start using drugs again and start spiraling downwards until I was homeless again,” he says.
At just 28, Brow has seen more of life than some people have at twice his age. “I’ve done a number of things,” Brow says between greetings, “I sold cars, I was a telemarketer, worked in tree care, I’ve been a trashman professionally, I worked with computers. I’ve had some good jobs and some terrible jobs. I’ve been married twice so far, I’ve got a bunch of kids all over the place, I’ve been homeless a couple of times and I’ve cleaned myself up a couple of times from drugs.”
In summer of 2006, Brow had bottomed out, homeless and drug-sodden in Morgantown, W.Va. With no greater goal than finding shelter, he set out on foot for the District. After 11 days, he arrived at Chinatown’s Gospel Rescue Ministries. There began his dramatic recovery.
Gospel Rescue Ministries was unique in Brow’s experience. The homeless shelter he sought was bolstered by in-house drug treatment and, most critically, the Ready To Work program.
Ready To Work, Brow says, “offers a complete and immediate solution. I was homeless, jobless, hungry, everything, and the program takes you in off the street, clothes you, gives you something to eat, gives you a job and a place to live. It really allows you to maintain your self-respect. When I was accepted into the program, truthfully, that was probably the greatest moment of my life.”
Brow started out as a sub-contractor to the BID’s Clean Team, pushing a wheeled cart along Barracks Row and Eastern Market, sweeping the curbs and sidewalks, and maintaining tree boxes. Today, as a full-time BID employee, he’s also responsible for collections and any driving. He’s been sober since July 21, 2006. Soon, he’ll be moving out of his dormitory living situation; he just signed a lease on a room in Rosslyn.
It’s tremendous, rapid change for the young man who stands out — with or without a cape. But beneath that flamboyant exterior, there’s a brighter light, a spark of charisma and conviction that holds you tight.
“I meet people and make friends everywhere I go,” Brow smiles. “I think that people are the best part of the world. I love talking to people, I love meeting people, and I’m really, really glad to be sober today.”
Know of someone making a difference in your neighborhood? Let us know at editor@voiceofthehill.com.
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Posted on Nov 09, 2007 20:05pm.
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