Carriage driver Tim Frey (Photo by Gregg Kirk)

Philly Carriage Driver Tells of Former Life on the Streets

By Gregg Kirk
December 1990

The coming of the holiday season does a strange thing to people — it makes them think. For most, it’s probably the only time all year their thoughts turn from their work-a-day worries to spending time at home with loved ones. And it’s almost a natural reflex, that while in the midst of these homey thoughts, one thinks of those less fortunate.

When the holidays wind around this month, Fishtown resident and Center City carriage driver Tim Frey may be thinking of these things, but more than likely, he will be remembering where he was this time last year. A year ago, Frey was living on the streets of Philadelphia.

It doesn’t take much of a search to have a brush with any of the city’s burgeoning homeless population. And with the advent of the colder weather, those urchins who normally found more secluded places to flop in the spring and summer months have moved to the warmth of the sidewalk vents, which makes the problem seem all that more conspicuous. By his own choosing, Frey was among the city’s legion of shelterless downtrodden, but after eight months of homeless life, he left the streets in favor of more gainful pursuits. What follows is his story — a homeless success story of sorts.

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It all started a little more than two years ago for Frey, who was holding a job as a jeweler and living in Society Hill. A failed marriage of three years that went from separation to a messy divorce left him destitute, and without so much as packing, Frey moved to Baltimore, leaving his belongings and painful memories behind.

He kicked around and worked for a horse-drawn carriage company in Baltimore but decided to return to Philadelphia last fall. He stayed with friends and worked a few odd jobs, including a stint as a barback and maintenance man at J.C. Dobbs on South Street, but by early December he decided to take to the streets.

“It was interesting. It was different,” says Frey wryly. “There’s a lot of interesting people out there.”

He fell in with a group of about 15 to 20 homeless sorts who made a daily routine of moving from one preferred flopping place to the next. When they weren’t frequenting the city’s homeless shelters and soup kitchens, they were being shunted by police.

“We went to sleep on the steps of the Federal Building at usually around 11 at night, and basically we had to get up early because they’d kick you off the steps at five in the morning,” Frey says. “Then we’d go over to the park and lay there for a couple of hours, and they’d chase us out of the park. So then we’d go to the different places and eat all day. I stayed at shelters once in a while.”

Contrary to the belief that city shelters would prove a safer place to stay than out in the streets, Frey intimates that sometimes the opposite was true.

“The city shelters aren’t very good,” he says. “They’re dangerous. You get a lot of problems when you go there. There’s a lot of harassment by the people who stay there… and stealing.”

Another problem plaguing the homeless, according to Frey, is an all-too-familiar one — drug and alcohol abuse. The substances of choice tend to be cocaine and booze, probably the two most easily accessible and more debilitating drugs.

“I would say drugs is a real big problem right now,” says Frey. “There are about 70% of them on coke or alcohol. I’d also say that the government is supporting their habit. A lot of people are on welfare, and they get their check, cash it, and go right up to North Philly or the projects or whatever. And that’s a big problem, too, because they can’t save their money because they’re always out to get that hit.”

What was it that made Frey decide to return to mainstream society?

“I just got tired of living on the street,” he says matter of factly. “I got fed up with it all. But the biggest problem is that once you decide you want to get a job, it’s hard to stay clean all the time. It’s also hard to get a job when you don’t have an address.”

To remedy this problem, Frey became involved with Horizon House, located on 13th & Bainbridge in Center City. The multi-purpose organization provides food, shelter, and counseling for the needy, while acting as a part-time and full-time employment service as well. He worked a handful of part-time jobs through this organization before settling on this current job as a carriage driver for Philadelphia Carriage Company, located on 13th & Spring Garden.

Most days during the week, Frey can be seen giving 20-minute tours of old buildings and houses in the city’s historic section for $15 a ride. Besides having to be knowledgeable in Philadelphia history, Frey is also responsible for grooming and maintaining the horses that lead his carriage, as well as dealing with patrons and weathering the elements during the winter.

The hours are long and sometimes spent in inclement conditions, but Frey admits that he’s in a much better way than he was a year ago. And what about his compatriots on the steps of the Federal Building? Do their paths ever cross?

“Oh yeah, I see a lot of them are still there,” smiles Frey. “A of of them are there I think just because they want to be. They know each other — it’s like a family. Basically, I think they’ve gotten caught up in something they can’t get out of, and they’re so used to what they’re doing now that it seems like a family. They don’t really have families of their own.”

While Frey admits that there is a certain contingent of sick or mentally ill homeless people incapable of caring for themselves, he remains philosophical towards those who are able-bodied and stay homeless of their own accord.

“If they want to get off the street, they will,” he says. “The only reason they’re there is because they want to be. It’s not that they can’t — anybody can get off the street. They’ve got plenty of opportunities. The government gives them money to get off the street. They’ve got shelters to go to. It’s up to them.”

For more information about Horizon House, call 215-386-3838.