B.C. man experiencing homelessness spreads positivity by cleaning roads, playing air guitar

Sawatsky Sign-Off: Jayson's Mission Adam finds out how an unhoused man is striving to make his community more positive by clearing garbage and playing air guitar.

PARKSVILLE, B.C. — Jayson Perry is in the midst of a journey he never expected to begin.

“It was a shocker for sure,” Jayson says of losing his custom cabinet business during the pandemic. “It was overwhelming stress.”

And then he lost his home.

“I’m just living in the bush (now),” Jayson says.

His former office manager, Shirley Chamberlin, says when Jayson realized that being homeless was going to be more permanent than just occasionally camping, his mental health started suffering.

“His walk was different. He was heavier,” Shirley says. “He was not taking care of himself.”

But then, one day, while wandering by a discarded box that had been stuck in a highway ditch for ages, Jayson felt compelled to do something about it.

“I just jumped in there and ripped it out,” says Jayson, who found the whole ditch was filled with garbage. “A lot more than I thought.”

So he spent the next couple hours picking up every piece of trash in that area.

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

So he did it the next day in a different ditch, the day after that, and now — more than a year later — keeps doing it almost daily.

“He had this passion,” Shirley says. “He had something to look forward to that he was doing himself.”

And Jayson discovered that, if he began feeling bad, serving the community like this ended up making him feel happy.

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

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

He started saluting the drivers, and when they honked in reply, Jayson was inspired to start playing an air guitar for them.

“The more excited the traffic gets, the more motivated I get,” Jayson also says the more people you make smile, the more likely they’ll smile at some one else.

“It spreads like wildfire,” Jayson smiles.

Now Shirley is helping Jayson with his mission by occasionally picking up trash with him and consistently maintaining his Facebook page, “Positive Energy.” His volunteering has also inspired appreciative community members to give him donations, which he’s accepted with gratitude.

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

He’s hoping to inspire all people — no matter their circumstances — to make their world a better place.

“Seeing him making a difference in his way,” Shirley smiles, “and the community being receptive to it, is a beautiful thing”