Edward Campos is the owner and operator of C&M Auto at 1217 Chicon. His dad, Manuel Campos, has owned this spot since 1977, and still runs C&M Liquors next door. Edward started his business when he was 23 years old. He remembers drugs being sold across the street, and his father getting shot for his efforts to start a business. Edwards' grandfather, Ray Velasquez, started Roy's Taxi in Austin in 1931 and became a prominent businessman in Austin. Edward's family didn't prosper from Roy's success. "My dad came to Austin to make a life for himself," Edward said. "He had nothing." Today, Edward sees a steady stream of businesses leaving and closing, and new developments being built to replace them. "The only thing to worry about today in the neighborhood," he said, "is where to find parking."
When Tony Johnson was 25 years old, he was fresh out of jail and OD'd in an abandoned house near Comal and E. 12th Street. When Tony woke up after 16 hours of near-death, his friends had abandoned him. He swore that if he survived that day, he would dedicate his life to God. When he woke up, the note above was next to him. He called Pastor David Perez, and went to his church. Tony became one of Pastor David's star students, and eventually founded his own ministry, the Ministry of Challenge.
