LIVING ON THE EDGE
Dennis Radfan, 48, known to people on the street as "Rudy," says he suffered physical and verbal abuse when he was a child, and that's why he took to the streets.

"I left home when I was 13. I've been on my own since," he says. He got involved with drugs and alcohol and got mixed up in lots of things he shouldn't have.

"I gave another kid some acid. He ended up flipping out," Radfan said. That led to a stint in a group home, until Radfan got kicked out.

He was sent to a "reformatory for young gentlemen." During ninth grade, still using drugs as an escape, he quit school and went out "on my own."

He was homeless in Chicago, but believes homeless people fare much better in Rochester.

In bigger cities, Radfan said, "We're like pests. We're rats. We're rodents." He says a big-city police officer once told him, "'God, we hate you homeless people.'"

Radfan, an affable man who will strike up a friendly conversation with anyone, won't let such memories fade.

But what keeps him going are the positive ones.

When he lived in the woods near Broadway in northwest Rochester, he received a note from the owners of a nearby home after he moved to another spot:

"Dear guy in the back yard. I hope you enjoyed your stay. If you would have let us know, we would have brought you warm blankets and food. P.S. Stop by the house. We have a guest bed room. Your thoughtful neighbors across the street in the blue house."

"That just meant so much to me to see that," Radfan said. He keeps the note, now worn and tattered, in his wallet.

-- Jeff Hansel