Union’s Unseen Man
Embedded Files
Bailey Stover
Team Cliff & Vi
Four years sober off methamphetamines, 32-year-old Jeff Sohn, who is homeless, lives frozen by his anxiety and trapped by his mental health issues.
Jeff lives in a tent in the woods behind Dickey Bub Farm & Home near the intersection of Highway 50 and the Bourbeuse River in Union, Missouri. He has been homeless since July when he and his step-grandma, 75-year-old Barbara Sohn, were evicted from their home in Union, as a result of Jeff’s increasingly erratic behavior. Barbara then moved to Washington, Missouri, to live with her daughter’s family but didn’t feel comfortable having Jeff come too because there are children in the home.
Other than occasionally seeing his step-grandma, Jeff’s social interactions are limited to brief conversations with customer service workers and the occasional exchange with fellow homeless community members. To avoid isolating himself, Jeff walks. And walks. And walks. He averages 35,000-40,000 steps each day — the equivalent of 16-20 miles.
Sometimes he makes his way to the nearby Bourbeuse River to fish, wash his clothes or just sit and talk with the voices in his head. He said the voices can be “rough” sometimes. They become worse for him at night or when he’s craving alcohol.
When he’s finally ready for bed, Jeff goes back to his tent in the woods. Physically and mentally exhausted from the day, he falls asleep only minutes after his head hits the pillow.
“I can go all day long and all night long, you know it?” Jeff said. “You just got to keep going.”
Because Jeff has been banned from both Quick Trip and Zephyr Express for stealing liquor in the past, Candy Wood, a 64-year-old homeless woman who lives in a tent one site over from his, occasionally pools her limited money with his to buy him liquor. Despite consuming as much alcohol as he can afford each day, Jeff said he wouldn’t consider himself to be an alcoholic.
“Just having one [shot with me] alleviates all that anxiety of ‘I’ve got to get one. I’ve got to get one. I’ve got to get one,’” Jeff said.
When she visits, Barbara brings Jeff food, clean clothes and other necessities. She said she tries not to give him more than $10 and goes into stores with him when she can to prevent him from purchasing alcohol. Although some people in Barbara’s family have chastised her for "enabling him," she said she knows she's not going to live forever and understands she can't keep coddling him.
“I just can’t do it anymore at my age, but I can’t deny him,” Barbara said. “I do [love him], more than he’ll ever know.”
Despite the innumerable challenges he faces living in the woods, Jeff insists he’s fine and doesn’t need help.
“I was destined for the woods,” Jeff said.
Nevertheless, Jeff wants to “get the fuck out of the tent” and “be able to relax a little bit.” He turns 33 later this week, and in the year to come he hopes to take steps toward finding housing, getting a car and starting a romantic relationship.
“Either way I know it will be fine,” Jeff said. “Just take it one day at a time, but the prize at the end’s always worth it, is gonna be worth it I think — I know.”
Jeff Sohn, 32, smokes his electronic cigarette in his tent in the woods near Highway 50 and the Bourbeuse River in Union. “It can get lonely out there,” Jeff said.
Jeff sits on an upside down bucket with his feet in the water while he has a conversation with the voices in his head. Jeff said some of the voices are “friend types” while others are “boss types.” “Sometimes they’re with me, sometimes they’re against me...[They] keep me company I guess,” Jeff said. “They gave me medicine for the voices, but it doesn’t work. I wouldn't take it anyway.”
Jeff studies and writes in his notebook while waiting for his flashlight to charge at a table outside Taco Bell. “It can be miserable, but I try to make the best of it when I can,” Jeff said. “I want to do things my way. I don’t want somebody to tell me how to do it.”
Jeff walks down steps as he makes his way toward his tent in the woods shortly before 2 a.m. behind Dickey Bub Farm & Home. “It’s hard to keep all this on you sometimes and remember everything because if you forget something you’re out of it,” Jeff said of carrying his most valued possessions with him at all times in his backpack.
Jeff rubs his eyes while sitting in the lobby shortly after 1 a.m. at Jack in the Box. Sohn typically spends part of his night at the restaurant because of its late hours and free internet.
Jeff carries a bag of groceries from Schnucks for Candy Wood, a 64-year-old homeless woman who lives in a tent one site over from his, along East State Highway 47. “Everywhere you have to go you have to walk,” Jeff said. “Sometimes I’ll just walk to walk.”
Jeff sits by the water talking with the voices in his head before washing his clothes in the river and sharpening his machete. When Jeff’s step-grandma, 75-year-old Barbara Sohn, visits him, she brings him clean clothes and offers to wash his dirty laundry.
Jeff, center, reacts as two town residents, one of whom is the owner of a nearby property, tell him he can’t use one of the trails that cuts through their property anymore at the Zephyr Express in Union. The man on the left said if Jeff keeps bringing people to his camp in the woods then he will walk through the campsite and knock it down.
Jeff, back, hugs his step-grandma, 75-year-old Barbara Sohn, goodbye in a field behind Dickey Bub Farm & Home after she gave him $8 so he could purchase food and other necessities and drove him to two different stores in Union. “I just hate that I can’t provide for him,” said Barbara, who is living on a fixed income. “I have to provide for myself to help him, and yet I share. I do what I can do...But I feel Jeff is fortunate because a lot of people out there don’t have money.”
Jeff fixes his tent’s rain cover in the woods near Highway 50 and the Bourbeuse River in Union. “It’s either work hard now or work hard when you’re older,” Jeff said. “I know when I’m older I won’t want to work.”
Jeff sleeps in his tent. “Doing stuff out of guilt versus out of wanting to help is two different things,” Jeff said. “It feels good to help when you can...Helping someone in need is really great. It’s a good thing.”
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