Sawatsky Sign-Off: Homeless man spreads positivity by cleaning roads and playing air guitar

PARKSVILLE, B.C. –

Jayson Perry is in the middle of a journey he never expected to embark on.

“It was definitely a shock,” Jayson says of losing his custom cabinetry business during the pandemic. “It was overwhelming stress.”

And then he lost his house.

“I just live in the bush (now),” Jayson says.

His former office manager, Shirley Chamberlin, says that when Jayson realized that being homeless would be a more permanent situation than just camping occasionally, his mental health began to suffer.

“His step was different. He was heavier,” says Shirley. “He didn’t take care of himself.”

But then one day, walking past a discarded box that had been sitting in a ditch along the highway for centuries, Jayson felt compelled to do something about it.

“I just jumped in and ripped it out,” said Jayson, who discovered the entire ditch was filled with trash. “A lot more than I thought.”

So he spent the next few hours collecting every piece of trash in that area.

“I just felt great,” Jayson says. “Positive.”

So he did it in another ditch the next day, the day after, and now – over a year later – he still does it almost every day.

“He had a passion,” Shirley says. “He had something to look forward to, which he did himself.”

And Jayson discovered that when he started to feel bad, serving the community in this way made him happy.

“It’s almost magical for him,” says Shirley.

And it is certainly purposeful. Jayson says he is on a mission to help the environment, raise awareness about homelessness and spread positive energy to all the people who pass him.

He began greeting the drivers, and when they honked, Jayson was inspired to play an air guitar for them.

“The more enthusiastic the traffic gets, the more motivated I become,” Jayson also says. The more people you make smile, the more likely they are to smile at someone else.

“It’s spreading like wildfire,” Jayson laughs.

Now Shirley helps Jayson with his mission by occasionally collecting trash with him and consistently maintaining his Facebook page.Positive energy.” His volunteer work has also inspired grateful community members to give him donations, which he has gratefully accepted.

Jayson completes each project, like an artist completes a canvas, by signing the dirt ground with a happy face, a heart and a peace sign.

He hopes to inspire all people – regardless of their circumstances – to make their world a better place.

“It’s a beautiful thing to see that he is making a difference in his own way,” smiles Shirley, “and that the community is receptive to that”