If you looked in the backyard of our Phoenixville affordable housing this summer, you’d have seen a flourishing little garden, filled with tomatoes, peppers, watermelons, and more.
That was the work of Rich Tucker, one of our participants turned House Manager and his story is the definition of perseverance.
Months ago, Rich had just been released from the hospital and knew it was time to make a change in his life.
Eventually, he made his way through the doors of Good Sam, and started taking leaps toward stability. Within the first week at Good Sam, he found a job and soon was able to start saving. He started seeing our on-site therapist, learned to say ‘no’, and set important boundaries in his life.
Within a year, Rich had moved through our program and accepted a position at Good Sam as one of our House Managers.
“There’s a certain amount of respect that you have if you really care about getting yourself better,” he shared looking back at the past couple of months. “That’s the key [of] this place is to give people the opportunity to better themselves and move forward.”
He took the second chance given to him and ran with it. “I just tried to ‘grab the bull by the horns’ so to speak and do everything that I possibly could,” he said.
His perseverance paid off and now back on his feet, Rich plays his own role in changing lives. Every morning, he sits at the kitchen table and chats with the men coming and going from the Good Sam house he oversees. He knows each resident by name, often stepping in to address issues as a House Manager.
His conversations are planting seeds, impacting participants’ lives for the better, and helping them flourish on their own pathway to stability.
Listen to Rich share his first moments at Good Sam and how this program helped him turn his life around.
