Turning My Life Around

Several members of the Project HOME community participated in “100% Philadelphia,” a theater piece that was part of the Philadelphia Fringe Arts Festival. One hundred different Philadelphians, representing the overall demographics of the city, shared their stories. One of the participants was Tyrice Gilmore, who lives at our Connelly House residence.

Philadelphia is where I was raised. I was born here. What keeps me here is just waiting for opportunity. But I’m thinking about traveling—I like the idea.

I’m a writer, I write stories. Being creative is one of my strong points. I got into writing because I was incarcerated as a juvenile and there was nothing else to do. It was all educational stuff at the juvenile center. That’s how I learned to play Scrabble, too. I’m a great Scrabble player. When I was older I did 10 years upstate for robbery, starting in 1997.

I was going through a lot that people didn’t know about because I wasn’t talking or expressing myself. I was just doing basically what everybody else was doing, but I was an introvert who felt I had something to prove, so I did even more stuff that I really had no business doing. I was actually angry and it wasn’t coming out in the right ways and I didn’t get help. I’m in the process now of turning my life around for the better.

I recently discovered LOVE Park at night.  When the lights are out and the water comes up and the lights are on the buildings, it’s amazing. It’d be so romantic to propose to somebody there. I’m actually really romantic, a lot of people wouldn’t know that. I’m just starting to hang around good-spirited people now, so it’s starting to come out.