We congratulate Richard today for getting out of his homeless situation. We were happy to build a budget with him that determined how much rent he could afford based on his income and then after he found a rental that fit this budget we were able pay his security deposit to allow him to move in. Richard asked that we pixelate his picture for privacy. Please read his story below:

Hello, To all Donors and OTS team.
My name is Richard. In a way, you can say my life is remarkable. For the fact that my mother was an alcoholic prostitute, She was assaulted one night and conceived me as a result of that assault. She didn’t want to keep me, but was convinced by friends to carry me to term. I was born a very sick child, myself and another baby girl shared a crib. As a result of the illness the baby girl passed away. I managed to pull through. My birth mother gave me up for adoption at that time. I did not learn to sit up, crawl or walk till after age 2. I’ve had a learning disability all of my life. At the age of 5 which was in 1981 I was struck by a vehicle thrown 30 feet had a TBI, broken ribs, a broken pelvis, and collapsed lung. Again I managed to pull through how to learn to crawl and walk again. I have always been different than other people. Throughout Grammar School I was bullied by other kids. This made it hard for me to stay focused on my school work. I had to change schools quite a few times due to other disabilities and problems. My adopted father had an alcoholic problem and would beat my adopted mother when he was drunk, this has left emotional scars throughout my adult life. He was a great man when he wasn’t drinking. But the alcohol always seem to sneak its way back into his life no matter what. I have seen the worst of what life has to offer. At about age 13 I was placed in a place called MacLaren Hall down in El Monte because someone called and reported child abuse. Which was not true. I was then subject to abuse by the staff who the county entrusted to take care of us. I met many abused children and was even stabbed with a pencil once by a fellow peer while there. I have never turn to drugs or alcohol to try and solve any of my problems. My mental health learning disabilities prevented me from achieving success. I have worked as a security guard in the past. But because of an endocrine disorder that I found out I have it has caused other physical problems within my being. The medication is quite expensive and County doesn’t have adequate funds to try and help pay for this medication so I am stuck. I want better in life and I plan to try and have a good life eventually. When my adopted mother passed away I ended up homeless and started sleeping in a vehicle. I would look for housing what was passed up by landlords because of discrimination of my physical attributes. Just one all hope was gone something told me to look on the internet to try and reach out for help. I just want to thank everyone at off the streets and the donors with deepest sincerity for helping me with this deposit. It makes me feel good to know that there are still people out there that care about the less fortunate. So God bless you all in this life and the afterlife. Signed Richard

Richard, from all of us at OTS, we wish you the very best in your new home.

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Richard is the 75th person we’ve helped get into housing this year and the 252nd we’ve helped since our start up in 2014.