Marco’s Story
Any references to Forward/Horizon Housing have been changed to Onward as a result of the merger of the two organizations.
Marcos, 70, has been enjoying his summer, spending the days with his granddaughters while their parents are at work. Each morning, he picks them up and brings them to his apartment for a fun day of adventures with their ‘Abuelo’ (‘Grandpa’ in Spanish).
“My granddaughters are my life, my happiness,” Marcos says of Georgia, Havana and Eva.
The girls’ school is nearby so Marcos is able to pick them up during the school year and help them with their homework in the library. The building he lives in may be affordable housing for seniors, but his granddaughters have always felt very welcome.
“In my last building, they had to stay in my apartment,” he remembers. “I felt alone there because people weren’t really friendly. Here, it feels more like family. I wish and I hope that the last day of my life is here.”
Marcos was born in Cuba in 1947, about a decade before the communist government took power. He doesn’t like to talk about his past there. “There’s only one president, one party. You can’t say no. You say no, you go to jail.”
He joined the navy at 17 and spent the next 35 years at sea. On January 1, 2000, he docked in Halifax. “I escaped — my boat arrived in Halifax and I said bye bye,” he says. “Canada opened the door wide and said ‘Welcome Marcos’ even though they didn’t know who I was. I am very grateful.”
Marcos spent that first night in an emergency shelter. Although he was a trained engineer, he took any minimum wage job he could find. After a few years, he moved to Alberta to work in a slaughterhouse and saved enough money to bring his wife and two sons to Canada. “I wanted the best for my family,” he says.
Marcos makes sure that his neighbours know he is available to help, 24/7, no matter what the task. He has organized a picnic and other activities that he invites them to. On any given day you may catch him singing in the laundry room with some of the men in the building, watching the Flames game or getting a lesson in hula-hooping from his granddaughters. “Hula, hula!” he laughs.
When asked what his family means to him, Marcos starts to tear up. “I’m a very happy man,” he says. “God blessed me with my family.”
Marcos adds that one of the most important things for a human being to have is “una casa digna, una casa humana” – a dignified home, a home with humanity.
There are over 3,000 Calgarians currently experiencing homelessness, and more than 14,000 households at extreme risk of becoming homeless. You can help make home a reality for individuals like Marcos by donating to Onward.
