Hopeless To Hopeful (50 Year Old College Student…)

Today was a big day. As many of you know we just got back off of our ten day tour for Remedy last week. It was quite the adventure, but the whole premise of the tour was to raise funds to get our homeless friend Kyle off the streets. To our surprise we raised three more thousand dollars than we had even hoped to raise and raised just at $7000. A lot of people have been asking what next. Well…I am glad you asked.

We have been in contact with an organization in Ft. Worth, TX called Cornerstone. They have a Transitional Housing Program for homeless men to get them back into society. They offer them a college education at any level they want, give them housing, job placement and at the end of their college life they help them find and purchase a place to live.

Today was Kyle’s interview. For the past few days he has been sketchy at best about this program. He has had numerous bad experiences with what he thought were similar programs. His life has been spent being picked up and dropped off at temporary housing programs with little to no help. Their only desire was to drop the homeless number, but not to help the individual. So when we pulled up to the house Kyle was in a questionable mood. He was somber and was showing hints of attitude on his face. We walked into the office and sat across from Marc. He would be conducting Kyle’s interview. He asked some questions and longed to hear more of Kyle’s story. He, like many others we have seen, hung on every word of his story. Afterward we had the pleasure of meeting the head of the mission, a guy by the name of Phillip. He was brilliant and his passion came through. All of a sudden in the middle Phillip sharing his love and vision for the homeless with us I saw a look of relief come over Kyle’s face. In a moments notice he had realized that maybe, just maybe, he had a chance at a new beginning in life. I saw the stress and apprehension leave his face and a peace and joy welled up.

We took a tour of their incredible facility and I could see even more so that Kyle was getting a little excited. He was like a high school senior visiting the college dorm room he was going to live in the next school year. He began to talk about how he would decorate his space and what kind of job he would like to have. All of a sudden the dreamless man I knew was dreaming big dreams about a new life and a new future with a new hope.

Many of you are reading this and asking what is next…well…here is the run down of what has to happen:

1. Kyle must apply for Pell Grants and enroll in classes at Tarrant County College (which he is doing tomorrow)

2.  Once all the paper work goes through we go back to Cornerstone and walk through that very paper work

3. Once a room opens (which is a month to two months away) he will move into the housing at Cornerstone

4. Until that time our good friend Nathan has been gracious enough to offer his house and spare room as a place for him to stay.

5. Once he enters the dorms of Cornerstone he will have work through the colleges work study program

6. His rent at Cornerstone is $50 per month

7. His work study will pay him $500-600 per month.

8. He will be responsible for paying for his food and basic needs

9. His schedule is his to keep.

10. At the end of his schooling he will have three months and help from the program to find a job and housing.

As of today they are very excited to see Kyle enter their program. As of today Kyle is excited to enter their program. All of a sudden the 50 year old hopeless and homeless friend of mine is about to be a 50 year old college student and more importantly, a man full of hope. The road ahead is a tough one, but one at the moment, he is willing to walk. I believe that he is more than ready and I think for the first time in a long time he believes that too. Please keep praying and checking back for updates as to what is happening along the way.

-Wearing The Hearts Of Others On My Sleeve-

-Trevor-