If you have visited Austin Street Center in the last few years, chances are you’ve seen Mr. Campbell. But you’ll no longer find him here.
Mr. Campbell arrived in the United States from Africa in 1985 in search of a better life, found work as a janitor and eventually owned an ice cream truck. When health problems popped up and he was no longer able to work, he eventually made his way to safety and shelter at Austin Street.
Austin Street Center has one singular focus, to serve the most vulnerable members of our community, and to help our guests secure housing. For most of our guests, that means creating a detailed housing plan with the guidance of a case manager and taking the steps necessary to find a home of their own.
Yet for Mr. Campbell, the path was a bit different. It meant a lot of time deciphering immigration documents, communicating with family back home, and a plane ticket. Thanks to the hard work of Austin Street’s client services team along with some very generous donors, Mr. Campbell has returned home to Sierra Leone to live out his final days.
As Austin Street’s executive director Daniel Roby says, “Whatever we can do, no matter how far we need to go, in order to end someone’s homeless experience, we’re all in.”
For more about Mr. Campbell, check out the story from WFAA here.
