Neighbors Launch GoFundMe Campaign For Dago, AKA Dirtman

Neighbors Launch GoFundMe Campaign For Dago, AKA DirtmanPhoto: Philip Bellber/Gofundme
Camden Avery
Published on December 29, 2016

Dago, also known under the moniker Dirtman, is probably familiar to you in passing if you've spent any time in the Upper Haight. He's the diminutive bearded man, always barefoot, always wearing a broad-brimmed hat, who lives in the disconnected rig of an eighteen-wheeler usually parked at the corner of Haight and Shrader.

A month ago, according to a new GoFundMe campaign launched by local Philip Bellber, the cab of his truck was broken into and raided for all of his tools and belongings.

Two weeks ago, the campaign launched as an effort to let neighbors help Dirtman replace his belongings, which not only outfit him "like a survivor from a Mad Max film," as the campaign accurately notes, but allow him to afford his independent lifestyle.

"Dago is not homeless," the campaign reads. "He doesn't beg. He is not a drug addict or an alcoholic. He is fiercely proud of his independence. He has never asked for help or support from any agency or branch of the government. And now, someone has stolen everything he needs to remain independent."

Dirtman has lived in San Francisco since the Summer of Love, the campaign states, and ekes out a living as a welder, woodworker and mechanic.

Launched on December 15th, the campaign has raised $1,375 towards a total $5,000 goal, including a donation with a nod to Dirtman's apocalyptic aesthetic: "When the world goes to shit, this guy will probably save your life."