heathbickerstaff
456835
15864
239
Hey guys, my name is Heath. A month ago I started a Facebook page called People of East Texas. This page is set up to allow me to talk to people all walks of life throughout the East Texas Region and tell a story about them.
About a month ago, I found Rodney sitting in the Downtown Square in Tyler, TX. I had seen him before numerous times as I drove by but this time I stopped to talk to him. He didn't have much to say the first time we spoke. In fact, he refused to allow me to take his photo. The one thing he did mention to me is that he wanted to go home to Lewistown, Montana. That was a month ago.
Last week I stopped by again. I spoke to Rodney like he and I had known each other for years. His face lit up. I saw the corner of his mouth rise into a half grin. As I sat with him, he told me about his hometown of Lewistown, Montana. I asked him if handed him a bus ticket next week to go home if he had anything holding him back from getting on a bus home. Without hesitation, he looked at me and said, "Nothing. I'd go right now."
By the end of our talk, as I got up to leave he asked me if I still wanted to take his photo. He was on the verge of tears when I snapped it...
I gathered a little more information about Rodney and a little about his family (just one sister) in Montana. He told me that he had lost touch 16 years ago when his phone broke and he no longer had her number. Long story short, I found her via Google and found out that she thought he had died. She was in tears when the conversation ended.
I posted this fundraiser along with his photo on the People of East Texas Facebook page and raised well over the $750 I was asking for. It was raised in LESS THAN 4 HOURS!
I went to reveal to Rodney that he was getting to go home but he already knew. A few people that had seen my post stopped by the downtown square and told him a day before I got to him.
My wife made a list of everything he needed. We found out the closest bus station was 125 miles away from home and after looking into countless options to get him directly home, we ultimately concluded that he would have to hitchhike the rest of the way. We bought him everything on this list along with a really comfortable pair of hiking boots.
These are the food items he requested for his trip. Along with these items we gave him cash to stop and eat along the way.
We unpacked his bag in front of him so he could see everything he was taking along, this way he could pack his own bag and put things where he wanted them. He couldn't stop laughing.
Goodbye Rodney... :)
If you want to see more stories or the Facebook page I started go to www.facebook.com/PeopleofEastTexas
Nutznvoltz
I'm from tyler! Good for you op keep it up!
YouWantABaccala
RockfordPeach
Wow, this is incredible! As an East Texan, I had to do a double-take when I saw the location! High five, OP.
rikm
One person being nice to one other person= 2 happy(er) persons...now imagine just 10% of US population trying to do the nice thing one time-
JoetheTrashPanda
Thank you for giving me hope for humanity before work crushes it tonight.
cmorrow8p4
Whomever OP is....I love you. Thanks for restoring my faith in humanity
Xiria
This. This is why, after all the crap I have put up with in my life, I still think people can be awesome. You go OP.
HelpfulMasturbationTips
Hope that someone will see your pain, obvious or hidden, and help you heal it is the best kind of hope for the seemingly hopeless.
silnocus
Good on you. We need more people like you in East Texas. Bunch of fuckin assholes here.
WizpireVampzard
I'm at work in tears. HONY would be proud.
Chswhat
Please, someone be there to offer him a ride. East coaster here and would do it if I could.
ChokeOnMyDiction
Chicken Ina biskit crackers and easy cheese, he's definitely prepared for travelling
rodrigosanchez
There's a real neat guy they call Elvis (James Cones) in Livingston, TX. You might find him at the Burger King during the day.
LibertyNcognito
Thank you so much for doing such a kind thing, the world needs more like you :)
CockneyBiker
Jeremy Corbyn?
officialvadgebadge
He has those eyes where you can see straight into his soul. Thank you for helping this man!
crazyperson87
Please post and let ppl know when he reaches home safe..
beebabubba
Are there any imgurians in MT that could pick him up and take him?
Silversyx
I have a friend who's a social worker for the elderly, AND she lives in Lewistown! she's trying to get in touch with them.
Stuckinsuburbiahelpme
I was just looking at the distance from my house, it's sadly 7 hours. I live in Wa and was hoping it was closer :(
RedWineAndSkyrim
I'm in Billings and I'd totally do that
TheGayAgenda
It looks like he grew younger by 10 years just based on the hope you gave him. Thank you OP.
thagooeyjuice
Makes me proud to be from east Texas. I'm in Tyler too if you need any help or support! Especially doing this kind of stuff! Thank u
Iwilleatmyshoes
Wow there are more tylerites on Imgur than I thought. It's nice to know I'm not the only one
thagooeyjuice
You're not alone fellow brethren! :D
LordKilgore
... 6 t-shirts... but only 3 underwear... dude...
Dudeeronomy
I was thinking the same thing, flip those numbers. And/or get fast drying underwear you can rinse out in a bus station sink.
b0pp
Maybe he already had some underwear!
TheLateKnight
this is how humans should be to one another.
killlface
Why dosent his sister pick him up at the bus station so he doesn't have to hitchhike? Am I missing something there
Silversyx
my friend is a social worker that works with elderly and disabled people in Lewistown, she's reached out to heath and may be able to help.
BreadyStinellis
It's also possible she just doesn't have access to a car.
visualvendetta
I've seen people do things like this the hard and illogical way simply because they want personally to perform a good deed. Which is fine.
wabewalker
Unsure, but it could be that his sister is also elderly and w/o the means/capacity to drive 125 miles to a [possibly] strange town and back.
killlface
Good point. I hope he gets there safe.
MyDogJake
Shit. I'm gonna go buy some socks to donate to the shelter... Everyone likes brand new socks.
iwishjtmoneywasstillavailableitsmyoldvideogamemoniker
Socks are a big need in homeless shelters. Excellent donation choice.
Schizamp
The shelters say good clean socks are the most in demand item of all.
AvoiceCryingInTheWilderness
WTG, man, HELP you brother. God Bless you.
MadamPuddifoot
if you pinterest, search "angel bags" ...lists of items that homeless people can use that will fit into a brown paper bag.
luquita79
I dont uderstand , his phone broke and because of that he past 16 year away from home? ...why he didnt use the phone book?
luquita79
to get the sister's phone number,and call her form a public phone?.its not disrespect just my english it's not good and maybe i misuderstood
squishcat
in the US there are no longer phone booths because of cell phones, well, at least where I live.
heathbickerstaff
I honestly don't know the answer to that except maybe he didn't have a phone book from Montana, in Texas
luquita79
in any case , you did the best you could do , and that ...is beautiful!
TheFireFerrets
I know! If my brother had done the same thing to me, I would have killed him myself when he came home!
Sugarleaf
and then rez'd him & made waffles or s'mores & sit & talk/fill-in the past 16 yrs of both our lives for each other♡
TheFireFerrets
Yes, well that would be after the killing part ;)
crumbhustler
@OP I grew up in Henderson, not far from Tyler, and this is one of the most generous things I've seen from ETX. Thank you. Seriously.
inwyt
Went to college there, ended up leaving because of the culture. It's great to know things like this happen there. +1
CziltangBrone
I live at Lake Murvaul, between Henderson and Carthage. Howdy, neighbors :)
Cobol
I spent my childhood in Tyler. I eat up any stories from there and this is the best one by far.
hipsterhank
Yeah, I grew up in Shreveport and would never expect something like this from the people of that area.
CziltangBrone
Shreveport is a mean town. And racist as fuck.
peckulate
T Town native. There are some good folk there.
kaathari
We just moved to the Henderson area, and I was kinda shocked to see this located in Tyler. I'm glad there are people like this around here!
CziltangBrone
I live at Lake Murvaul, between Henderson and Carthage. Howdy, neighbors :)
kaathari
Howdy!
icef
Houstonian here. I usually stay the fuck away from East Texas cause nothing good happens there. This post is changing my mind. Kind of.
kaathari
Pretty much my mindset but I live here. There are pockets of good, but far and few between. I still don't want to raise children here
icef
Every time I drive in ETX, I go through a speetrap town, get a ticket. My truck broke down once in Tyler. And I lost a girlfriend up there.
CziltangBrone
Well slow down, leadfoot. Especially through Tatum.
icef
I was driving through Rusk! Speed limit drops 70 to 50 over the course of a curve
Caerbannogdoodle
The world doesn't suck sometimes. Good job being human.
Krizastro
Global warming still exists. The extinction rate is 1-10,000 times higher than natural rates according to panda.org I'm well socially adapt.
arby
The world doesn't suck most times, you just don't see it not sucking because it's shy.
thatgingerkid46
Good job being human. That's the best description I've ever heard for helping others.
sp1cychick3n
There is nothing wrong with the world. It's the people.
polio69
Isn't there a imgurian close to the destination who can give him a ride for the last 125 miles ?
yakatuus
The worst thing about the world is that slimmest of margins where the good outweighs the bad.
Ophelis
The good doesn't outweigh the bad.. unless you live a very sheltered life.
symbre
its not that the good outweighs the bad. its that the bad is more prominently advertised in our society. few people promote the good as much
Ophelis
Depends on what you classify as good; is it relative good, i.e. non-suffering? Or pleasure? Important distinction to make.
LiveLikeLarry
Hello, fellow human. How do you do?
MisterWho
Earthians unite!
MrBotmon
Whoa. There's more of us than i thought
DotSlashNatalie
:hides antenna: Yes....we are all....human....
vermil
Yes. Of course. What else would we be? Inhaling oxygen and expelling carbon dioxide is much fun.
shakedownblues
Such breathe.
ashipthatshipsshippingships
I work in homeless services. The avg life span of someone who is chronically homeless is between 42-52 years. I wish we did more to help.
deadandbloated
Universal basic income.
somethingsteampunkthatshouldntbesteampunk
In college I tried helping three different homeless men all of whom suffered from dif mental illness, but I had no clue how to really help
afriendofmine
Free houses. Counter-intuitive as it might be, it's actually cheaper for the State to just give away houses for the poor.
ashipthatshipsshippingships
It costs NYC around $42k/yr/homeless person to keep them homeless. Housing costs around $26k! This is a useful talking point that I use.
ashipthatshipsshippingships
That's a 1/3rd reduction (close to 1/2) in life, for not having a home. Poor education, worsening medical sequelae, poor diet, etc.
TheOutlawStar
Thank you and I hope you know you are an amazing person.
clancysmum
I think you're probably doing all that you can do. It takes all of us, you can't do it alone.
cheshiredudeenema
And let's not forget that homelessness is a gendered issue. 70% of homeless people are male.
ashipthatshipsshippingships
Thanks for mentioning that!
battery1979
Isn't that the normal average human life span without proper nutrition and medical intervention?
lesilentecho
This was my thought.
ashipthatshipsshippingships
I couldn't tell you for sure, but that sounds right. Average life span in Angola is around 40.
hominahominahominahomina
Thank you for being a part of the solution :)
ashipthatshipsshippingships
Thanks for the thanks : )
TheArguablyAwesomeMagician
Thanks for the thanks to the thanks!
HobbitHouse
What percent would you say are homeless by choice? (Don't hate me, I'm curious)
Gherkincensed
Catastrophically high rates of substance abuse in that group
ashipthatshipsshippingships
No, excellent question! Very few. Conflicting available data because of issues with survey methodology, but I'd say around 1-5%.
HobbitHouse
Thanks!
nacko
But isn't chronic homelessness usually concomitant with another chronic condition, like mental illness or addiction?
ashipthatshipsshippingships
What's your field? I typically don't read the word "concomitant" on this site. Made my heart smile :)
ashipthatshipsshippingships
Yes it sure is. As per the consensus definition, it's a disability PLUS either A. 1 year-long episode of homelessness, or 1/2
ashipthatshipsshippingships
B. 4 episodes in 3 years--length of episodes typically undefined. There are high rates of mental illness and co-occurring drug abuse obv.
DoctorDelta
You need to do one of those "stories from my job" posts.
gumbyneedsapokey
I wondered if anyone would want to know. I love where I work and what we do, working with folks under 18 who are homeless
ashipthatshipsshippingships
Nice! How long have you been in the field?
gumbyneedsapokey
About four years now, and after all the changes in my education, location, myself, I still come back to this :)
kittykat
I work for an org that works with homeless and at risk youth 12-24. Keep up the good work.
ashipthatshipsshippingships
I've been thinking about it. I run a housing development for formerly homeless people. I have so, so, so many stories to tell.
scienceprimo
Commenting because I can't favorite comments @sarah :-[
ShuffleBoars
I'd love to read it!
OneBabyOneHamburgerBun
It'd be interesting to hear, both the good and the bad, as there is likely plenty of both in that field.
SealandIsARealCountry
Commenting to remember to check in later
Teas
Link us when you finish writing and submitting your post!
Lilyeth
I would like to read them too.
ashipthatshipsshippingships
I can do a post on it if people are interested. For sure, there's much work to do, and I'd love to spread awareness on solutions.
staygoldnponyboy
Please do!
SpenceOrSpencer
How do you feel about people saying homeless people should just work harder or deserve what they get for their life choices? Drives me nuts.
ashipthatshipsshippingships
If you're currently homeless, there's an increased chance you were raised in it. Being a homeless child stunts neurocognitive development 1.
ashipthatshipsshippingships
Kids can't control their destiny, and it's hard to dig your way out of a ditch when you're older. Picking yourself up by your bootstraps 2.
ashipthatshipsshippingships
Might work if you have boots. If you dont, it doesnt. Solutions need to be multifaceted and require systemic interventions. 3.
Eggtothenog
My dad just died at 51, wish I could have done more to help him.
ohforcrissakes
Hugs.
ashipthatshipsshippingships
I'm so sorry to hear that.
Eggtothenog
Thanks, heroine is an awful drug. It consumes people.
ashipthatshipsshippingships
It does. It's the drug of choice for some of my tenants. It's making a comeback in St. Louis. :(
onepinksheep
We need a follow-up on this for when he finally gets home. You do have the sister's contact details, right?
vixiecat
OP posted on Facebook. his sister will be there waiting. https://www.facebook.com/PeopleofEastTexas/posts/957627927629915:0
KirchoffsVoltageLaw
Message OP on the Facebook page. "If you would like to see receipts to what Rodney got with your donations, please message me" From FB page
CptBigglesworth
He's now the leader of the Labour Party in the UK
Phulba
Rodney is better than that
roseannadannna
This.
PlaidWearingCanadian
Is.
Techtronic
dog
AtemShane
And
W0nd3rlust
I want
MonumentalHobNob
Patrick!
ADMIN1337
Not.
pixarpizza
Dickbutt.
TheUtahn
Necessary.
JuanMoreNight
Speaking of, can't she pick him up from the bus station??
SalsaOreos
Was wondering the same
AlphaVictor4
I know if one of my siblings was thought to have been dead, but found to alive, I would make every effort to go as much them, as them to me.
SalsaOreos
If she's older than he is, she may not be able to drive. Or at least not that far.
AlphaVictor4
I was thinking about that, possibly she can't or isn't able...but hell to see this story through I'd drive him myself.
SalsaOreos
Had a thought; If she's old enough, maybe she can't drive very far/at all.
JuanMoreNight
She should still be able to make some sort of arrangement, like having friends or children go for her, I would think
dakeea
Sadly, sometimes when you get older you don't always have friends, children, or relatives.
SchuckeyDuckey
"There is some good in this world Mr. Frodo. And it's worth fighting for!"
dbrsong
I like this line way before Mr. frodo was inserted into it from that movie. It's much more real to me without an ok imaginary guy in it.
expertsandwichmaker
+1 because I'm watching lord of the rings right now
TheKirkendall
My high school senior quote. Growing up makes it harder to believe though.
superoriginal
If it was easy it wouldn't be a fight. Never give in,
sloanybalogna
Damn you I was crying, then it turned into a laugh and now its bittersweet. Thanks
was821
I read that to Mulans tune but as " a Frodo worth fighting fffoorr"
Gink0
People who don't fully appreciate LOTR are people that I do not need in my life
MissMardigo
I made it all the way through.. until this damned comment.
chickenflavoredspraypaint
too many feels at once. stop.
LoTRFanatic42
"And when the sun shines out again it will shine out the clearer!"
POTUSBrown
-Wayne Gretzky- Michael Scott
scathingsarcasm
....Sam: "Did you just quote Lord of the Rings to me?", Dean: "Yes, but it's the Rudy hobbit and the Rudy hobbit always gets a pass!"
theresakittyoverthere
I'm not crying you're crying
adeciduoustree
I'M NOT CRYING. SOMEONE JUST PUT TEARS ON MY FACE
NiceLegsDaisyDukesMakesAMAAANOUTOFYOOOUUUU
Who's crying? My body's sprung a critical leak.
thatgingerkid46
I got chills reading this
GreyPilgrim90
Dude me too! We both got chills reading the same thing!
thatgingerkid46
Dude that's awesome! LOTR ftw
thebeardhasspoken
OH MY GOSH YES...put a grin on my face after a long day, much needed.
thatgingerkid46
So true...anytime I hear anything LOTR related I'm in a better mood
ChuckNorrisAteMySock
I think there's a lot of good in this world. And it's totally worth fighting for.
GreyPilgrim90
I know a hobbit you should talk to.
Imgurmomma
Unless you are fighting Chuck Norris and he eats your sock
ChuckNorrisAteMySock
It went down fighting.
cardiokillsgains
These are wise words from and man who has faced adversity and came out with one sock
ChuckNorrisAteMySock
I was afraid this was gonna be a bunch of "fuck you, people suck" comments, but it's just this. And I fuckin' love you man.
cardiokillsgains
I love you too. I think more people should realize that the majority of people a kind and civil its just we remember bad memories more. 1/2
cardiokillsgains
And the media and the consumers of it don't help much either to that fact.