By Christina Ng on ABC News, Aug. 4 – Jose Espinosa was in the financial services industry for almost 30 years. He dabbled in acting, sharing the screen with Glenn Close and Mariska Hargitay, and he is a tournament chess player. He attended Bronx Community College and the John Jay College of Criminal Justice.
The fact that he just won an international journalism award might not sound far-fetched, except for the fact that he did it as a homeless man in Philadelphia.
“I’m not the typical homeless person,” said Espinosa, 58. “I’m a very well-rounded individual.”
Espinosa was recently awarded with the honor of Best Interview from the International Network of Street Papers for a profile he wrote of another homeless man.
That man was Matthew Saad Muhammad, the light-heavyweight boxing champion of the world from 1977 to 1980. Muhammad entered the shelter in 2010.
The article, called “Fighting Back,” and was published in the July 2010 issue of One Step Away, a newspaper whose reporting staff and editorial board is made up almost entirely of homeless people. The paper is published by RHD Ridge Center, Philadelphia’s largest homeless shelter.
