INDIANAPOLIS -- To meet the needs of the city's homeless youth, one man loaded up his car and hit the streets with sandwiches, socks, shoes – whatever it took to lend a helping hand.
Now his efforts have grown to reach even more homeless young people through his Outreach Ministry.
Eric Howard says the ministry was the answer to a call to serve he felt.
"I had read a study about homeless teens, and in that study they said they wanted to research it another six months," Howard said. "At the time, I was brash enough to think that, seriously, there's homeless young people that you've identified and you're going to spend another six months researching it? I can do something now."
So now Howard and a number of volunteers and case managers lend a helping hand, or a listening ear, to homeless youth who are lonely and confused – and many who've been through horrific ordeals.
"[We've had kids] that had been abused physically, emotionally, sexually, verbally, had aged out of the foster care system, who were ill-equipped for self-sufficiency," Howard said. "Kids who had been incarcerated as a juvenile, had returned home and the parents had kicked them out."
Howard says he's determined to help them get and stay on the right path.
"We can't rescue every one," he said. "But while they're here we know their name, we know their story and, if nothing else, they're communicated with that they are loved and they are valued. They have worth and they have purpose."
For his efforts with Outreach Ministry, Howard was selected as the Jefferson Award winner for August.
If you know someone you'd like to nominate for a Jefferson Award, click here to find out how.
