Holise Cleveland III works on his laptop at the Honeymoon Bakery on Broad street. (Brittany Hannah / Rome News-Tribune)
He comforted her on his birthday in their New Orleans apartment while debris hammered the walls and roof on August 29, 2005.
More than six years after surviving the disaster in his hometown, Cleveland is now living homeless in Rome and striving to inspire others through local and online activism.
The devastating events of Katrina left him with complications from post-traumatic stress disorder but also with a strong will to start again.
Having hitchhiked out of New Orleans, Cleveland eventually found an affordable home in Rome at a mobile home park with his wife Jenni and eight-year-old daughter Kyra, who is autistic and home-schooled.
Despite the new home, economic circumstances began to cause friction. With he and his wife on disability, the family was barely getting by with expenses and rent.
Cleveland said the situation left him with a tough decision. He could stay at home, managing through decreased disability income as a married couple living together, or go elsewhere so Jenni could afford to support herself and Kyra.
“At the rate we were going, the whole family would have been homeless,” Cleveland said. “I wasn’t going to let it get worse.”
Jenni drove him to the local Salvation Army where he found shelter. He said if he hadn’t been able to find a bed at the time, he would have chosen to sleep in the woods. He now lives at the William S. Davies Homeless Shelter.
As he waits for his applications for temporary housing to be accepted, his passion for marine conservation drives him to connect with others around the world. Armed with a laptop and a background in web technology, Cleveland utilizes Twitter and his website CyberWhaleWarrior.com to blog about local and international conservation issues.
“To do something that is much bigger than yourself humbles you,” he said. “It gives you a light at the end of the tunnel.”
He said the activism of marine conservationists inspired him to spread the message of protecting those who can’t protect themselves, from dolphins to children. Whenever he has the opportunity, he shares conservation documentaries with others, including fellow homeless people in Rome.
As a result of his extensive online writing, friends and strangers from across the globe have reached out to give comfort, supplying him with gift cards to local businesses and pre-paid expense cards. He said he didn’t ask for the help, but appreciates it deeply and it further inspired him to help others when he can.
“Every time I get down, somebody picks me up and it’s usually people around the world,” he said.
Cleveland can often be found at the Honeymoon Bakery on Broad Street using a gift certificate which friends and supporters have donated. He said it came as a surprise when people started leaving him certificates.
Tonya Davis, a consultant for the bakery, says Cleveland’s presence is welcomed and that he has spread word of the business far and wide with his Internet postings.
Cleveland’s relationship with the bakery started when he came in one day for coffee and “checked in” his location via Facebook and other social network sites. Without being asked, friends and followers as far away as England, Canada and California started to call in gift certificates up to $120 for him at the business.
“We’re happy he’s here and we appreciate his support,” Davis said.
Using the donations, Cleveland has brought up to 10 other homeless men to have coffee in the morning when the business opens at 7 a.m. He says the business is very supportive and he spends most of the gift cards on others, especially when it’s cold and raining.
“Everyone needs a place to be,” said Davis. “The stigma of being homeless is just that — a stigma.”
Cleveland believes he can lift up those in need with expanding their focus to pressing conservation issues. As a result, he hopes to give them courage to tackle things larger than themselves and speak out about what they care about.
“I’ve got a whole new frontier with the homeless,” he said. “They’re the voiceless.”
For the future, Cleveland hopes to secure housing so that he can have peace and a space of his own as he looks for work.
Click here to read a story about a homeless Chicago woman who became a Twitter celebrity after sharing her story.
I would like to see Brittany Hannah or RTN do a follow up story to see where he is now and have him answer some of the questions people have concerning his past. Probable wont happen though cause its not news.
Since his true colors have been exposed i now wonder if his "disability" isnt just another ruse. I know more than one of person who is more than able to work (and in a lot of cases do so for cash money "under the table") who are receiving SSI checks for their so called "disability". Some of these have never worked a day in their lives so they arent receiving money that they paid into the system but are living off the money other hard working people have paid in.
I myself have had to have back surgery after working all my life, but i'm not on any form of disability. I continue to pay my own way and dont want others to take care of me.
Mr Cleveland since you care so much about saving the whales why dont u volunteer to go on one of these ships that attack the whaling ships. Oh wait, then he would have to actually do something besides sit in a warm bakery enjoying the coffee and baked goods others have bought for him.
Again i challenge Mr Cleveland to get a job and support his family the way most of us have to do.
Since his true colors have been exposed i now wonder if his "disability" isnt just another ruse. I know more than one of person who is more than able to work (and in a lot of cases do so for cash money "under the table") who are receiving SSI checks for their so called "disability". Some of these have never worked a day in their lives so they arent receiving money that they paid into the system but are living off the money other hard working people have paid in.
I myself have had to have back surgery after working all my life, but i'm not on any form of disability. I continue to pay my own way and dont want others to take care of me.
Mr Cleveland since you care so much about saving the whales why dont u volunteer to go on one of these ships that attack the whaling ships. Oh wait, then he would have to actually do something besides sit in a warm bakery enjoying the coffee and baked goods others have bought for him.
Again i challenge Mr Cleveland to get a job and support his family the way most of us have to do.
Homelessness is usually caused by alcohol or drug addiction and addicts are a high risk group for communicable disease such as hepatitis, venereal disease, tuberculosis has been very prevalent in the homeless community.
I cannot imagine why a proprietor of a cafe where people sit around tables and eat their muffin on a napkin with which they then wipe their mouth, would encourage groups of as many as ten high risk potential disease carriers to enjoy her hospitality, when the next guy sitting down is a father and a husband who may pass those freshly acquired germs on to his family.
And then that proprietor acts as though someone has done her wrong because the community objects to her playing foot lose and fancy free with the health of her customers.
I love me some fresh baked goods, to go. The best coffee is at a person's own home. To not have a home is terrible. That's why I ended up working 53 hours per week for years on end.
Ain't nothing worth anything easy.
If, by some unforeseen Bush -type voter mishap, he is put out of the White House then I suppose I could spring for a Honeymoon Bakery gift card for Michelle and the young ladies.
The restuarant can refuse service for:
Patrons lacking adequate hygiene (e.g. excess dirt, extreme body odor, etc.)
In most cases, refusal of service is warranted where a customer’s presence in the restaurant detracts from the safety, welfare, and well-being of other patrons and the restaurant itself
Unless the bakery can prove these folks are spreading disease they might not have a leg to stand on.
And lawyers are expensive. A small home grown bakery probably wouldn't be able to pay much.
I have not been baking much lately, maybe I am getting too old for that.
Thanks for supporting our President. My liquid funds had to go toward a new dishwasher yesterday and will solve a plumbing problem today.
Ipaytaxes: A business owner can choose which risks to take, so can I.
I think it is laughable that any merchant on Broad Street lives in fear of Holise Cleveland, a homeless convicted felon, wife beating con man on probation without political or financial clout. It is ludicrous to to research legal ramifications when a well placed old fashioned boot would suffice.
Even during my youth, I can recall very few black people living on any kind of public assistance. People were working, doing some kind of job that was useful to the community. - Ed Smith
Governmental aid is a drawback rather than an assistance, as, although it may facilitate in the routine of artistic production, it is an impediment to the development of true artistic genius. - John Philip Sousa
I'm a con artist in that I'm an actor. I make people believe something is real when they know perfectly well it isn't. - John Lithgow
Charity creates a multitude of sins. - Oscar Wilde
And especially for those who continue to give to Mr. Holise:
Charity is injurious unless it helps the recipient to become independent of it. - John D. Rockefeller
You must think the Bakery benefits from the now 13.000 views, otherwise you would not let this story go on.
On the other hand, Holise seems to have a way with the ladies and perhaps you are one of those vulnerable females that he has always found to do his bidding for him.
I have given you a road map on how to get him out of your hair in previous posts. He is still there, there must be a reason for that.
I wondered the same thing. I doubt that they can kick him out because he does do business there so he's not considered loitering. Plus with all the idiots out there sending him money and gift cards for the place they would be happy to take the money. So what if he's bad for business, money is money.
Just a thought...who knows I could wrong. There is always hope he will break his probation and then no one will have to see his sorry behind for at least a year...I guess some of us just have to hope and keep our fingers crossed.
All the bakery has to do is ask him to leave, what is he going to do, sue? He has no money. He claims their address as his, would you let someone squat in your home or your business?
If I were Ms. Davis I would be on the phone with the Bartow County probation people. She has a store full of lawyers and cops every day, all she has to do is ASK for help and he would be gone.
It appears to be a low rent publicity stunt. The paper gets lots of hits which is good for advertising revenue for them, the bakery is talked about by 13.000 people and Holise has a warm place to stay with hot coffee and lots of fans.
I scanned through some of Brittany Hannah's stories in the archives and she got a total of 20 comments on all her stories in the past few month. She hit the Mother Lode on this story.
Okay now I have to be honest here and say while I know Ms. Hannah was doing her job as well as the editor, I know personally that there was information that should not have been stated and they will be lucky if someone doesn't call them on it. People can only take so much and my guess is there are a few that a furious about the story. Just saying...
I am going to have to sign off, this is getting boring.
“An authentic attitude of compassion doesn’t change, even faced with another person’s negative behavior.” – Dalai Lama
∞ “Alone we can do so little; together we can do so much.” ~ Helen Keller
∞ “He who accepts evil without protesting against it is really cooperating with it.” ~ Martin Luther King, Jr
∞ “To me, you’re either an activist or an inactivist.” ~ Louie Psihoyos | quote from The Cove
∞ “The world is a dangerous place, not because of those who do evil, but because of those who look on and do nothing.” ~ Albert Einstein
∞ “If you make your best effort to be kinder, nurture compassion, make the world a better place, then you can say ‘At least I’ve done my best’.” ~ Dalai Lama
∞ “And those who dismiss love for our fellow creatures as mere sentimentality overlook a good and important part of our humanity. But it takes nothing away from a human to be kind to an animal. And it is actually within us to grant them a happy life and a long one.” – Joaquin Phoenix | EARTHLINGS
You quote lines and tell people to be kind and think of others but do you follow your own advice? As far as everyone can tell from your latest blog Trolls of Rome...it was you trying to save your own behind. Where did you help another that wasn't you and don't give us the crap about saving the whales.
You wanna save the whales so much do something besides write useless boring blogs all day and making people feel worthless until then remain silent because no one wants to here what comes out of your mouth.
Note how they threw out the mess then disappeared. RNT needs to clen their lot out.
I believe you were refering to Jamie Lynn, his secretary as he calls her sometimes. She does do all the work that Jenni refused to do.
I feel bad for the girl because she has no idea what she has gotten herself into. In reference 2 different people that live in seperate states and have nothing to do with 1 another.
Oh but don't sweat it I am sure she is monitorng the posts along with Holise...
I agree that RNT needs to be cleaned out...they need a more reliable staff that knows fact from fiction. Did anyone think to ask the wife if it was okay to print her name or her daughters name? What about all the info they gave? Is there nothing private or sacred anymore? Hay Jamie when you found out what happened with Holise and his wife were you happy? Did he even say he was sorry? Nope he didn't. In fact he said that he did it because he knew it was over and wanted the attention he is getting now. WOW! You want a man like that? You can have him...good luck there. How can someone like Holise be posted as loving whn there is no love in him? He was given the same choice in April...you decide Save the Whales or Save your Marriage...guess you all know what he chose. Oh but here is the best part. They only got back together because he had no one else after he got arrested, simple words were said that if it didn't work out the second time it was over. Holise couldn't accept that and that was why he said and did what he did. There was no way he was the one that was going to look bad in his mind...it was the wife he was trying to get to. Read between the lines people.
He sure takes offence to it and starts trippin about multiple RNT ids and went ape s**t after I asked conspirator a question that didnt even mention Mipoco's name but he sure jumped right in.
I don't take offense to it. I asked why it was posted on this article or RNT. It obviously has nothing to do with the article.
What I do take offense to is being subjected to stupidity by some posters that do this type thing when there is no purpose.
At this point, with all the stupidity running rampant by those, the only purpose that one can possibly see is ATD(Attempt to Distract).
grasshopper75, you gave them more information about him than I would have because the original poster needed to explain why the photo of a person that few seem to know is here.
BTW, you seem to know more than is shown on the GDOC website which does NOT mention any drug offense.
BTW2, I do not know the person OR his family.
Go figure as to why it was posted other than as I stated, stupidity, ATD.
BTW, AA does not require that you adhere to any particular religion, just to have a God of your understanding, so he can certainly be "Utopian" or whatever, and still be involved. If he doesn't attend AA, well that's a shame. They do have free coffee.
Apparently, you are quite familiar with him, from another homeless shelter in another state? Seems he causes trouble where ever he lands.
I’ll be more than happy to provide further insight, but I do charge for those, so your gift cards or prepaid Visa cards will be appreciated.
Lastly, a question for Mr. Holise himself. Why are you spending all of your disability payments on random homeless people instead of sharing it with your family?
Yeah I know that AA doesn't require you to do participate in religious matters unless you want to. In fact I told Holise that several times but he didn't want to be embarressed by rejecting them in such a way.
Oh trust me I know Holise very well and was stuck in his game for 5 1/2 years but now it's my turn and I am about to turn his world upside down and insie out. I bet you guess who I am now.
When I am done Holise you will wish you never met me....I do get tired of your games and if you think I wasn't going to discover what you did lately as another BIRTHDAY gift you are so wrong. How are your boys? Oh that's right they all basically hate you. Your mom and everyone else in your family will love the articles I send them not to mention all your probation info. Don't worry I will be sure to see your original probation officer in Bartow County soon as well. Did you really think I would let what you do go? On my BIRTHDAY no less. It's time people know who you really are.
Perhaps Brittany can do an "update' and keep this story alive for another five days.
He seems to have retired the limp wristed WWrome, whose tone of voice reminded me of Truman Capote. The feisty Ghetto Queen NettaMoBetta is gone, JennyLynn has not been heard from. Gerda the lady from Holland made only a brief appearance.
They must serve some hallucinogenic coffee at the Honeymoon Bakery, either that or there is a Wild Turkey in the shrubbery down there on Broad Street.
Oh and it's called reverse physiocology people. Please give to this and that place before you give to me...Dugh! They are gonna feel bad because of the situation he is in especially because it's so sugar coated that they give to him like he wants. Sure he wants to get into housing but he complains and conspires to get in quicker. He's been looking for dirt on them and even considered checking himself into a hospital just to get out of the cold. Now I know he has "mental" issues...if you call always getting your ways issues but that's stupid.
Oh and he's gonna look for a job my behind...he refused to work for years having his wife support him because he didn't want to pay the child support that they now take from his social security. LOL!!! Anyone wonder why he doesn't drive? I guess that's what happens when you get too many DUI's. Only reason you aren't drinking right now is because you'll go to jail. No worries he'll be back to his nasty drunk self again in about 4 months. Can't wait for the people of Rome to see that. It's worse than you can imagine guys, especially if you think he's bad now.
After all, the article had 12.500 views so far, that can't be bad for business. If this gutter rat is still nesting there then we can be sure Holise, Brittaney and Tonya are in this together and have played us for fools.
I appreciate you calling the Bakery and personally speaking with me earlier this week. I do not appreciate, however, the implication you are making in your statement above - that somehow I am in "cahoots" with the newspaper and/or with Mr. Cleveland. As you may or may not have noticed, my original comment has been deleted by the Rome News-Tribune. Apparently, it is okay to say whatever you want about whoever you want...as long as it is NOT about the newspaper. It makes me sick to my stomach, honestly, that of all the comments on this story, MINE is the ONLY one that has been removed. I assume that this comment will also be removed at some point, but I cannot sit by quietly and allow you to continue your defamation of my name and my character. Focus on the real story and issue at hand here. Do not come to the Bakery if you do not see fit to do so. But, please, leave me out of it. Your unkind and untrue words about me are becoming borderline libel. Please bear that in mind.
As I told you when you called, Honeymoon Bakery has been pulled into a situation that we did not ask to be a part of and do not wish to be a part of at all. The bakery is doing everything we can legally do at this point. We must be cautious as to how we react. Rest assured we are researching the legal issues from every angle. A knee-jerk reaction from us would be more harmful than helpful.
P.S. You may also find it interesting to know that I spoke with the newspaper several times the same day I spoke with you. I was told that they would ask the editor about removing my "quote". As you can clearly see, my "quote" has not been removed -- only my original comment on this thread was removed. I can't help but to wonder why....
Simply right click on photo, then click on "copy image location" and paste it in another window.
Now copy the numbers before ".jpg", except leading zeros. This is the inmate number.
Then go to GDOC home page to GDOC home page and follow the inmate search to enter the number.
No, C67, I did not look up any "old sweeties".
Neither you nor notinrome© are rocket scientists. You two are much simpler. After all, I figured you out. LOL
Tell us, does this mean that C67 and notinrome© are one and the same?
C67 promises and notinrome© delivers. Are those two not the same people that claim that almost everone else has multiple RNT IDs?
I, personally, don't think you're using any other handles than your own. Might be wrong, doesn't matter to me. Others, like Voter/publicpeach, have slipped up on more than one occasion revealing themselves accidentally as they check in to post. That's okay, too...I love the diversions.
We have one poster on here who has tried to portray themselves as me, rhuidean07, and others by using similar IDs or slight variations of them. I've pointed them out as I noticed them.
It is a Georgia Department of Corrections photo and the GDOC site states that he is still serving and can be released in 2013.
BUT, that does not show why it is posted here.
I never thought much of a person who gets arrested for "Domestic Violence." Doesn't take much of a man to beat up his wife while he's drunk once again.
I agree with WWrome. Mr. Holise's advice to post your identity is plain stupid.
If people would send me money I'd publish my address