After a 44-day stint in the hospital, Tom found himself homeless and the safest place he could be was living in his truck in a parking garage.

That summer he had contracted a staph infection that affected his wrists and spine. Weeks later, he was discharged without the ability to walk and no feeling from mid-back to toes.

After wearing out his welcome with family, he had one choice: Move into his truck and start living in the safest place he could think of, the parking garage at Phoenixville Hospital.

“I was in a state of hopelessness almost,” Tom explained, looking back on those days living out of his truck. “I didn’t know what was coming next”

His friend urged him to call 2-1-1 and get connected with Good Sam. After a phone call, Tom was soon being welcomed at our office.

Stability was headed his way.

After moving into our emergency housing, “[I] immediately felt that relief come over me that I now had heat, and shelter, and food, and a place to restart,” he shared later. He had a roof over his head, a bed to sleep on, and the space to start healing and get back on his feet.

During his time in our housing, Tom could often be seen coming back from long walks as he slowly built back his endurance and ability to walk, giving our facility manager advice on how to fix certain issues, or keeping the house in spotless condition.

After going through emergency, transitional, and affordable housing, he was offered a position on Good Sam’s staff as a house manager, a position he accepted with excitement knowing that after receiving so much help from others, he now could give so much help to others coming up through the program.

For Tom, the compassion he received through Good Sam gave him the strength he needed to move forward. Today, he’s spreading that same compassion to those at his day job at a retirement facility, as well as in his role as a house manager.

“Good Sam truly helps people restore their lives and find hope out of the darkness,” Tom said, a statement that sums up what we are all about here at Good Sam as we respond to homelessness with bold compassion.