My name is Jerry. Over 40 years ago, I moved from the East coast to the West coast on a job transfer. I drove cross-country with all my possessions. When I arrived, I was informed that my job was no longer available due to a freeze on all government subsidized jobs. The threat of homelessness was real. I had enough money to get by for two months and then I would be on the streets. This did not deter me and although it was a struggle, I was able to successfully find employment to support myself. I’ve been raised to always do what I could to be nice to people and to support others in need. This personal experience was the source of my inspiration to help others.

I’ve helped make and serve meals for the 100s of residents at our local family homeless shelter for a 6 year period. I’ve hired capable homeless people to help me with construction projects. I helped our local soup kitchen’s feeding the homeless events, during Thanksgiving and Christmas. Twice I ran for a City Council position, to help affect a positive change in our community. I brought the “Free Hugs” campaign to our community and for several years, brought joy, kindness and love to hundreds of people; many of whom were homeless.

I have fulfilled the dying request of a quadriplegic friend who was in hospice, by creating a T-shirt business and website, so that his loving, life-positive T-shirt design could be shared with the world.

I helped a friend who was a single mom with her adopted daughter. I was her daughter’s surrogate father figure and mentor. I would sit for her, teach her to ride her bike, pick her up from school and help her with her homework. I’d let her help with small home repair projects; I’d take her to her self-defense classes and went to her horseback riding events to show my support. Our connection was so wonderful, that she asked me to come as her father to her school’s “Father/Daughter” dance.

Some friends, who had a successful restaurant in town, had lost their lease. They had just two weeks to move everything out. During that time I helped them move their entire restaurant into storage. I also helped them with electrical work when they opened their new kitchen. I’ve also helped seniors and friends who are more fortunate than me and gave a reduced rate for home repairs.

When Covid started and businesses had shut down and many travel restrictions were put in place, I was fortunate to get some temporary construction work. It was at this time, a young man in India reached out to me through Facebook, for some help. The travel lock-downs had hit him and the others in his desert village very hard. Their income was solely dependent on tourism and it had all ended leaving them with nothing. He had to walk miles just to get food and water. I had been doing pretty well at that time with the construction work, and I had caught up on my past due bills. Although my work was temporary, his situation was worse than mine. Feeling grateful for what I had, I wired 2 weeks of my pay to him. My 2 weeks’ pay was equivalent to about 1 year of his earnings, if not more. I told him to share it with the village for food, medicine and clothing for the children, which he did. This 1 gift helped get them through the first hard year of Covid until the travel restrictions were lifted and once again, they were able to support themselves.

For over 30 years I’ve been contributing my time to care for those less fortunate than me. However, I've given to the extent to where I’ve neglected my own needs. Good paying job opportunities became scarce and I could no longer afford to pay for a place in which to live. As a result, I have done most of these good deeds while being homeless myself. Helping those less fortunate than me has its spiritual rewards, yet not enough financial support so that I can afford to purchase a home. It’s for these reasons that I’ve been living in my van for the past 17 years. I have successfully worked over 20 jobs during my life and I am highly skilled in many trades. Where most of my employment ended with layoffs, my latest job ended due to a workers compensation injury. Re-entering into the workforce has presented a new set of challenges. I am a Caucasian senior gentleman [68]. Today, “Equal Opportunity Employment” has been replaced with an “Equity” based demographic. The demand for equity has created a new discrimination [age] and I am not even being considered for jobs I am well qualified for. I thought that by now I would be able to enjoy the fruits of these past 40 years and continue to serve others during my retirement years.

Ironically, I now find myself in a position of asking for support from friends and strangers. I’m barely getting by on my social security and “van life” is draining my financial resources. Van repairs must get priority, or I can end up on the street and risk losing all of my possessions in storage. I have plans to create my own home-based job teaching. I need a stable living situation to realize my vision to continue serving others. I need a “leg up” to get into my own home, whether it is help with getting a down payment or more. I am grateful for any size contribution. Whether you are able to make a contribution or not, I would greatly appreciate it if you would share this page to others you know who may be interested and able to help. I'm looking for some fellow “Good Samaritans”. If you were ever helped by someone in the past, you might look at this as an opportunity to pay it forward. I bless you and sincerely thank you for your kindness and generosity.