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‘A better life for my dog’ By Buffy Pollock Sep 06, 2022 01:00 AM A A Formerly homeless man flips his life with motivation from his canine companion Erik Childress, right, and Toni DeMello with Flip in Ashland Friday. [Andy Atkinson / Mail Tribune] After moving from place to place for much of his life, and being homeless since age 15, Erik Childress feels like he’s finally come home. Childress, who now lives in the Green Springs area, has worked to overcome a rough childhood, chronic homelessness and a slew of other obstacles — including a stint in prison, and having his transportation stolen just before the pandemic. Arriving in Ashland almost three years ago, the 30-year-old traded life in his van and wondering where his next meal would come from for summer firefighting gigs, steady work in the off season and a family he’s pieced together along the way. His motivation? To make a good life for his dog, Flip. Originally from Missouri, Childress said he bounced around for years struggling to find his place. A real turning point in his life began with a chance to work with rescue dogs while living in Milwaukee. It was a way the dog lover could do some good while forgetting his own troubles. His first charge, an aggressive, scared mastiff-lab-pit mix, the “poster child of aggressive dogs,” would be the beginning of a better life. Flip was surly and sometimes skittish around people, but he and Childress connected in a way the man said he’d never experienced with another being. The dog had behavioral issues, some likely due to unbearable pain, and signs of bigger problems with his hind legs. But he immediately loved his new friend. Flip belonged to Childress. And Childress to Flip. A veterinarian visit revealed ruptured ligaments in both hind legs and at least one torn meniscus. At a crossroads with his own situation, Childress said he nearly gave up, but he realized Flip was counting on him. “He was my reason to keep going,” Childress said. “He loved me, and I was still his person, but you could just tell. He knew that I almost gave up.” From that point on, Childress strived for better, working to save what he could for Flip’s surgery and making life decisions with the dog’s best interest at heart, even outfitting his van with solar panels to run extra fans to keep the dog cool during summer. “I can sleep outside in a tent fine, but Flip doesn’t like that. He was having a lot of pain, and he was counting on me to look out for him, so I figured out how to get into a van so he could be comfortable,” Childress said. “Every job I’ve ever gotten, I had to say, ‘Me and my dog live in a van, and I have to go check on him every 30 minutes.’ That was just how it had to be. And I’d pay people I knew to hang out with him while I worked.” Childress and Flip found their way to the Rogue Valley by happenstance, picking up a hitchhiker in Colorado bound for Cave Junction. “I knew we needed to start fresh, and it’s always better to go somewhere with a destination,” he said. Hitting Southern Oregon just as the pandemic was closing down much of the country in 2020, Childress found work at The Wild Goose Cafe & Bar in Ashland. He signed up for training and became a wildland firefighter, working as a sawyer and an incident commander type 5 for Ashland’s Pacific Oasis. A twist of fate came when Childress went to a community meal where he met Laurie Cuddy, president of the Street Dog Project, a nonprofit that helps homeless people care for their pets. Street Dogs funded Flip’s first surgery. Cuddy met Childress at a time when Flip’s legs were getting worse, but Childress was quickly gaining momentum toward fixing his life. “The two are very bonded, and you just get a sense that Erik made the decision to get his life together for his dog,” Cuddy said. “We helped with the first surgery, but even when they were doing the first set of X-rays, they said, ‘The other one is almost as bad and will need to be done soon.’” Often, Cuddy said, homeless pet owners will pass their pets around, unable to handle added responsibility, but Childress was different. “He always checks in with us and lets us know how he and Flip are doing. I see on social media, as soon as he gets back in town after a fire, he always posts how excited he is to see Flip,” she added. “He’s such a devoted dog dad and such a nice guy overall. He’s got an infectious giggle and a huge heart. He’s built his own community and his own family through these connections he’s made between firefighting and working at The Wild Goose.” Toni DeMello, Childress’ friend and roommate, took Flip and Childress in last year when Childress asked DeMello to hang with Flip during a fire assignment. DeMello said the two became instant family. “He’s kind of like my surrogate son. He came to work with us at the Goose and was living in his van. ... I was like, ‘Dude, if you want me to watch Flip while you’re out of town, it’s fine. That turned into, ‘Just come stay with me,’” DeMello said. “I didn’t know him, but I’ve been around dogs and dog people all my life, and you can tell a lot about a person by how much they love their dog. And this guy loves this freaking dog more than he loves himself, no doubt.” DeMello said Childress spends his food budget on Flip, doing without things he might buy for himself to put the dog’s needs before his own. “This dog has been his savior and means the world to him,” said DeMello. “When he’s out on a fire, Flip is home with me, and he’ll always text and say, ‘Give Flip a kiss for me!’ or ‘Hey, it’s Flip’s birthday, will you do this or that?’” Childress is quick to dismiss any notion of Flip being a lucky canine. Working all summer on fires and at The Wild Goose when he’s home, Childress’ sole focus is on fixing Flip’s other leg and taking some bucket list trips with his best friend. “He’s really done more for me than I ever have done for him. He’s the saving force. He’s my whole life,” Childress said. “It’s crazy to think I was homeless for so long, but I’d never really felt like I had a real home before. I always felt kind of lost,” he said, noting that his first ever birthday cake with his name on it happened this year. And his front porch where he lives with DeMello boasts 6-foot-tall letters that say, “H-O-M-E.” “Me and Flip are both making it, one day at a time,” he added. For information on the Talent-based Street Dog Project, call 541-816-6035 or 541-816-6374. To donate for Flip’s surgery, see petsofthehomeless.org/get-help/find-locations/the-street-dog-project/ (put a note, “for Flip,” on the donation page). Reach reporter Buffy Pollock at 541-776-8784 or [email protected]. Follow her on Twitter @orwritergal.