Important note: Information in this article was accurate in 1992. The state of the art may have changed since the publication date.
Associated Press - Tuesday, December 8, 1992
Every December, Joseph "J.R." Reyes, 61, pulls on a red suit and black boots, attaches a woolly white beard and transforms himself into one of the city's Sidewalk Santas.
He is one of many homeless men who collect donations for charities during the Christmas season. The monthlong identity switch is a chance to break free from their usual, seemingly hopeless lifestyle.
"It just comes once a year, and it's a chance to go out and mingle with people who might not normally talk to you," Reyes said.
The homeless men who play Santa are well-suited to the job, said Dottie Watkins, spokeswoman for the Volunteers of America.
"These are people whose families and friends have withdrawn from them," Watkins said.
"They've had hard times. They understand humanity better than most psychologists." When he is not dressed as Santa, Reyes usually wears a T-shirt and jeans. He has a tattoo on his arm in memory of a girlfriend who overdosed on heroin. He is seeking his own Christmas miracle this year: contact with his long-lost brother and sister. To work for the Volunteers of America Sidewalk Santa program, "you must have the spirit, love and dreams to play Santa," Reyes said. "My dream is to see my brother and sister one day. That's my dream."
For 83 years, Sidewalk Santas have been visible all over the city, collecting money in artificial brick chimneys.
Reyes makes $35 a day, plus bonuses based on how many donations he receives.
Since he was 17, Reyes has struggled with drug addiction. He said he quit mainlining "speedballs," a sometimes lethal combination of heroin and cocaine, and all other drugs in 1989.
Reyes said he lost his parents to tuberculosis when he was 6. In 1966, after one of his many arrests, he lost track of his sister Bernadette and brother John. He believes they are in New York City, where they grew up.
Reyes said he has done time in Attica, Sing Sing and other prisons, and had made the most of it.
"I was illiterate before I went in, and I didn't know cat from dog, but I taught myself to read," he said. "Now all I want is to find my brother and sister before I go."
CAPTION: PHOTO
Joseph 'J.R.' Reyes dressed as a Santa Claus thanks Allana Haggett (SANTA CLAUS)
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