Izel: “Someone Has to Have Heart”

Izel Gause’s childhood was marked by his family’s rootlessness, as his loved ones moved frequently between upstate New York and several parts of Northern and Southern California.

His childhood chaos prevented Gause from finding stability and fueled rebellious behavior that hindered his education at key points in his adolescence. It also led him to live occasionally without a home when he was still just a teenager.

But through it all, Gause has used self-reliance and resourcefulness to overcome adversity and gain housing, while trying to forge a career.  

After dropping out of high school, he left his family home and stayed with friends, often moving from Sacramento and the East Bay – and back again. But he later returned to earn his degree from a continuation high school. He also began focusing on his interest in electronics, building his skills in the field to earn a paycheck.

“I was proficient in it and I started working and making a living for myself in electronics,” Gause said.

Gause never shied away from work, as he often held two or three jobs at once to earn a living. But expensive Bay Area rents made it nearly impossible for him to afford his own home and, as a result, he experienced homelessness. He had sleep on the street on some nights, Gause said.

“It’s scary experience, but I was raised to be resourceful and be able to adapt,” he said. “I knew how to take responsibility do whatever I had to do, and I knew how to ask for help. That’s what got me through being homeless.”

Gause never gave up, however, and kept trying to improve his living situation. He stayed in shelter and joined housing programs and, eventually, he gained a home at an Abode permanent supportive housing site.

He also continued pursuing his dreams.

Gause’s passion is music and writing lyrics, as the creative outlet is cathartic for him. He studied to be a music producer and audio engineer and graduated shortly before the pandemic started.

“Music is like a healing process for me, it brings me peace of mind,” he said.

Gause has also sought to learn other professional skills, with the goal of widening his job options.

He’s begun taking classes to forge a career as a social worker, taking classes that will teach him how to help other people who are experiencing homelessness.  

He’s doing similar work as a member of Abode’s Lived Experience Advisory Board (LEAB), which asks members to use their lived experience to inform Abode how it can better assist others who are currently unhoused.

“I like serving as a LEAB member,” Gause said. “It’s opening my eyes as to what should be going on. It’s been an inclusive experience for me.”

It’s important for young people to have a mentor or role model to help when advice is needed and to teach them the difference between right and wrong, he said.

It is a role Gause is happy to serve.

“It is so hard to be young, homeless, have no support, and you’re forced to try harder and harder because the odds are against you,” he said. “Someone has to help and show them the way. Someone has to have heart.”