Brotherly Love: Apartment Starter Kit Helps The Homeless
By Ukee Washington
PHILADELPHIA (CBS) -- Getting out of homelessness requires more than a roof and four walls. It requires the little things, things that may be out of reach. Eyewitness News anchor Ukee Washington shows us how a veteran who once found himself on the streets now helps others.
Fred Silhol walks fast at his server job at Cherry Hill Diner. Just last year, this former Army sergeant was homeless.
"I got to the point where I ran out of money," Fred said.
Within weeks, a non-profit, Volunteers of America, or VOA for short, helped him rent an apartment in Audubon. He was excited for his first night.
"I'm gonna make dinner, and then I was like, 'Oh my God, I have nothing,'" Fred said. He needed cookware, bowls, utensils.
Fred was able to scrape together $50 to buy the essentials.
"This is what I need right now to get me through the next couple of weeks," he told Eyewitness News anchor Ukee Washington. "And all of a sudden, the lightbulb went off."
Fred met up with Rebecca Fuller of VOA. It serves 13,000 people, many homeless, every year. Fred showed Rebecca what it took to get started in his new apartment.
"So I was like, 'That's brilliant! We could really use that,'" Rebecca said. "That's when he said, 'I even call it the Apartment Starter Kit.'"
It looks like a lot, but it only cost about fifty dollars. "It's everything from pots and pans to salt and pepper," Rebecca said. It includes things like plates, cups, sponges, bedding.
VOA is raising $5000 to buy 100 Apartment Starter Kits before November 1. Fred is glad the idea can help others have the same success he did. From his lowest lows to his highest highs, does he feel blessed and thankful?
"Oh, I can't tell you how thankful I am," Fred said.
Volunteers of America says the best way to help are monetary donations. Go to http://www.voadv.org/fredsilhol to find out more.
