ABC7 News heard about a man who came back from the brink of despair by creating his own job. Now he's helping others do the same.
TechShop is a place where inventers and craftspeople can come to use big tools and learn new skills. Inside you'll find Marc Roth making logos for his new business with a laser cutter. Outside, you can find a man sleeping next to a shopping cart. However, it turns out these two have something in common.
Roth was homeless in 2011. He was an out-of-work software developer whose life had gone into a tailspin. He then took all the money he had left and bought a one-month membership to TechShop San Francisco. That membership also came with two classes and that is where he learned he had a special talent for using a laser cutter. Eventually, he taught others how to use it and now makes a living with that machine.
Roth has the goal of turning an empty lot into what he calls "the learning shelter." He said he wants to see, "all the resources that a person needs to live, plus all the resources that a person would need to learn. So kind of like a tech shop and a homeless shelter merged into a single entity."
