Steven Pace is looking for a place to live, and maybe die.
So he turned to Greenwood's faith community. The response was immediate.
Five churches - the Salvation Army, Immaculate Heart of Mary, First Baptist, Nativity Episcopal and North Greenwood Baptist - have paid for Pace's room at the Golden Coach Inn, where he will be at least until Tuesday, Pace reported. This was confirmed by the motel's management.
And the minister of West President Church of Christ, Alex Bayes, went to see Pace Wednesday, bringing him food and the possibility of other help.
"A man is not going to make it with just the clothes on his back," Bayes explained.
Pace, 46, may not have many possessions, but he still has plenty to carry around with him: armfuls of medication and a past that includes convictions and prison time for uttering forgery and escape. He was released from prison Monday.
There's also his health. Pace said he has full-blown AIDS, among other conditions.
He said he has relatives in the area. But they are elderly and on fixed incomes, and they cannot take him into their homes.
"They used to call me 'Happy,'" said Pace, who grew up in Greenwood and graduated from Greenwood High School in 1977.
He said he worked in various jobs around Greenwood - even was a clerk at the hotel in which he is now staying.
Pace said he learned he had HIV in 1992. Five years later, the disease had progressed. "I snapped and lost it, and thought I was going to pass away right then - and chucked everything to the wind," he said.
"I bought a brand new car from Buddy Jones and wrote them a check for $35,000," he said.
In 1997, he pleaded guilty to uttering forgery and was housed as a state inmate in the Leflore County Jail, then at the courthouse.
Pace said he was a trusty with a little freedom. One day he simply left.
That added an escape conviction to his list. Pace said he was sent to Parchman and housed the whole time in a unit for people with AIDS.
A prison doctor, Pace said, recently told him his AIDS medications are not working and estimated he might not live more than a year and a half. He said he has an appointment with Magnolia Medical Clinic next week.
"My immune system is just zilch," he said. He pointed out a rash on his legs and a sore on his ear lobe.
He said he weighs about 225 pounds, and that's down from more than 400. Pace said he is not a drug addict and never has been.
He acknowledged that he seems smart. "But I didn't use that wisely," Pace said.
Pace said that after he arrived at the Golden Coach, he started telephoning churches for help. He hopes to get financial aid from a national organization that pays rent for people with AIDs. He also hopes to receive federal SSI - Supplemental Security Income benefits.
But for right now, Pace said, all he wants is "a home that will be mine."
