Will arrived at Helping Up Mission in 2001 at age 52. That was the year I started working here full-time. A crusty old Viet Nam veteran, his body and soul were in real sad shape when we first met.
He’d kind of given up with people, at least living ones! Will lived in a local cemetery with a bottle and his dog before coming here.
A family saw him, wanted to help and offered Will a better place to live. He was interested but not quite ready.
So the next time they saw him, they asked if he was would go and he said yes – but was worried about his dog! They explained that the dog couldn’t go with him, but that they would take his dog.
So Will arrived at HUM and settled in pretty quickly. He found other guys with whom he could relate and a new way of life began. We became his new family.
Will got clean, developed a true spiritual walk and even mellowed out! He used his skills in our maintenance department and after graduation, with no better place to go, stayed on in our graduate transition housing.
Then Will became Building Supervisor of our House of Freedom building for close to a decade. Almost as old as the building he cared for, Will felt like it was his calling to keep things looking good and working right.
This past year cancer began to take its toll and the last couple of months have been difficult. But he wanted to stay here – at home with his family. Yesterday Will left us for his Heavenly Home.
We miss him already! But Will’s not in pain, anymore.
Truly Happy for You, Bro
Pastor Gary Byers
Deputy Director