Campbell has turned his life around.

Today was a great day. The weather was gorgeous, the 183 meals served were delicious and everyone was engaged and happy.

Our sweet friend, Campbell Haven, joined us today. You may remember Campbell from a recent story we posted. We met Campbell when he was homeless and on the receiving side of buffet line. Through a lot of hard work and the gift of a strong support system, Campbell has turned his life around and he’s giving back to his community in abundance, including volunteering with our organization.

We also enjoyed a surprise visit from a couple whose apartment we furnished yesterday. Despite having a cozy pad to hang out in, they took multiple buses to get into town simply to say thank you for turning their empty apartment into a home.

We want to thank all of our volunteers for coming out today to spread cheer and encouragement to our homeless friends. Our volunteers who come out week after week build the foundation that is required for our homeless friends to trust us and allow us to help them.

We also want to thank everyone who participated in our campaign to help Campbell obtain everything he needed to turn his house into a home. You guys never stop giving and your generosity is really appreciated.

Finally, a HUGE thank you to the Holt family who donated every last thing in their late father’s home to #directhope. We were able to furnish a 1 bedroom apartment and a 2 bedroom apartment for two of our friends who transitioned out of tents and will be spending Thanksgiving in their own homes this holiday season.

We are so blessed to have such strong community support. Thank you for all that you do. Always.

Campbell celebrates 15 months of clean and sober living.

We are really excited to help Campbell celebrate 15 months of clean and sober living.

Campbell was raised by two alcoholic parents. At the tender age of nine, his mother passed away and his father, whose life was already consumed by alcohol, increased his consumption exponentially.

Campbell, bereaved, found himself unable to fully heal from his loss because he was left to parent himself, care for his father and run the household.

For four treacherous years, as he saw his friends enjoying normal childhoods and living relatively carefree lives, Campbell watched his own childhood slip away from him and continued to nurse his anger and resentment over the unfair hand he'd been dealt.

At thirteen, Campbell followed in his parents’ footsteps and began drinking which was the gateway to using and selling narcotics, but he hid his inner darkness well as an honor roll student with a perfect attendance record.

He finally broke the cycle in his mid twenties and enjoyed years of success as the owner of a very successful orthopedic implant supply company, until Hurricane Ike swept through Houston leaving him without a home, a car or a business.

For the next several years, Campbell drank heavily and couch surfed until he wore out his welcome with his hosts and then resorted to the streets. When his best friend passed away, the grief and the reality of having lost everyone and everything that ever mattered to him was too overwhelming to bear and he eventually overdosed on June 25, 2018. It was the anniversary of the day that he was brought into this world and was nearly the day that he left us. He went into cardiac arrest twice and when he was released from the hospital he promptly and voluntarily checked himself into rehab.

On June 26, 2019, Campbell celebrated a year of clean and sober living and we are so proud of him. We are also very grateful that after having been on the receiving side of our Sunday Brunch line, he is now proudly reporting for duty as a volunteer and serving up warm meals and words of encouragement to those with whom he once resided at Tent City and in the shelters.

Campbell will be moving out of his current sober living facility and graduating to moving into his own apartment on October 1st. He has secured much of the furniture and larger items that he needs to continue his journey, but he still needs a few items.

If you would like to gift any of these items to Campbell, please click onto the Amazon Smile link below and check out his wish list. SHIP TO 1804 CARR STREET HOUSTON, TEXAS 77026. Also remember - if you make a purchase on Amazon Smile and select Direct HOPE as your charity of choice, our organization will receive a percentage of the purchase price of your gift. https://smile.amazon.com/hz/wishlist/dl/invite/7o0iKJI...

You can also make a donation to our PayPal account by clicking onto this link https://www.paypal.com/us/home and finding us by using our email address directhope15@gmail.com, if you would like to help stock his pantry and fridge.

All gifts and donations are tax deductible.

Thank you so much!

Star of Hope: Sobriety Celebration

SPOILER ALERT - tear jerker!

One of our volunteers was recently asked to attend a sobriety celebration as a guest speaker at the Men’s Star of Hope.

One of our volunteers was recently asked to attend a sobriety celebration as a guest speaker at the Men’s Star of Hope and, of course, our organization was thrilled and our volunteer addressed several hundred men and supporters of the program and told them a little bit about what our organization does and the resources that we have to help anyone that would like assistance.

Within 24 hours we had numerous people reaching out to us with their stories and most of the people we spoke with were looking for assistance with their resumes and employment placement. Our hearts were so full to find people who wanted nothing more than to get employed so that they get into their own apartment and pick up where they left off before they lost their jobs. Not a single person asked for cash or a hand out. They only asked for a hand up, which we were, and are, eager to provide.

That being said, one gentleman’s story stood out to us and we’d like to share it with you. Before you read his story below, grab a box of Kleenex and really think about how you would respond if this story was coming from a single mother, because single dads have a much tougher battle.

Here is his story in his words:

I've been trying to start a restaurant for years and finally got a broker to start an offering for it. I don't handle any of the money whatsoever.

I'm in this situation because I started a security company on the West coast and invested all of my savings, then while me and my children were moving to California, I was inquired upon then arrested for an out of state warrant that I knew nothing about. I wasn't convicted but I was held without bail for 100 days for extradition. It was my first time ever in jail (for other than a traffic ticket warrant 17-years ago). I lost our security guards and contracts.

Before I went to jail, I was a single custodial father. The mother of my sweet, young daughter had postpartum depression after birth so I had to raise my daughter predominantly alone from birth, along with my sons, until this year. We are all really close. My daughter’s mother has custody of her now. I’ve lost all of my savings because I’ve set up automatic payments to be debited from my account to support my children. They come first!

My daughter can only listen to my voice on her Vtech smart watch I got for her and she pretends to talk to me. She currently shares a bedroom with her mother at her grandma's house. She's waiting on me to get back on my feet so I can come get her so that we both feel safe and have our normal, happy lives together.

It worked very hard for a very long time trying to find a job. I was hired for Amazon (again) and USPS, but for the first time in my life my background has an arrest on it and they fired me.

The good news is that I have a great job now and I’m trying to save money to get an apartment so that I can get my kids back.

The bad news is that, having lost 40 pounds, I have very few clothes that fit, so it’s difficult to present myself as a professional.

If I can just get some clothes and some support moving into a bunk house so that I can work normal working hours (the shelters require you to check in at 4 pm if you want a bed and a shower), I can do the rest on my own.

All I want is to have my children back with me.

If you would like to donate clothing or make a small donation to purchase clothing for him or to help pay for a bunk house or public transportation, you can make a donation to our PayPal account using the email address directhope15@gmail.com.

$25 will pay for a week in a bunk house $25 will also pay for a week of public transportation.

#directhopenation #compassionisaverb #dobetter #houstoiansofferingpurposeandencouragement