Not only did he look different, he felt different, he ate different and he communicated differently. Joe felt more secure but not only more secure but happier as each day passed by. He had become altogether an entirely different person. Who was this guy and why all the sudden changes? It was about four years ago when a supervisor from another shelter brought Mr. Joe Ryan into my office. Joe was shuffled back and forth from shelter to shelter and because of various reasons he just wasn’t able to call any of them home. Our shelter, The Homeless Voice took him in. The system in almost every community has cracks and some of the clients fall through the cracks.

Joe was an extremely depressed person who ate very little. For the first seven to nine months of his stay here at the shelter the director Sean Cononie placed him in what the shelter calls a Mother Teresa bed. A Mother Teresa bed is a free bed which entitles the person not to have to work, not having to sell our newspaper and not having to pay fees through an assistance check. This is a bed for those who are very special people whom the system had misplaced and caused them to fall through the cracks. Joe was basically a guest at the shelter and at the shelters expense. According to Cononie they had to bring him his food because Joe would never leave his bed. It wasn’t long that things had changed in his favor and began regaining his life and becoming the man he always was. The story continues from this point on.

I also knew Joe when he first arrived. A frail man shaking as if he was going to fall into pieces. He was as thin as a rail. I was gone from the shelter for about two years and then returned. In the cafeteria I saw this man who came up to me and said “hi.”

I did not know who he was at the time. He looked at me and said “it’s me, Joe.”

“OMG” was all I could say. In front of me was standing this solid functional human being. I had never in my life seen such a resurrection of someone. He was healthy even to the point of a bit pudgy. He talked to me as if he was giving public speaking seminars about confidence. I was actually envious that he looked better than me. You could have hidden two of the Joe Ryans I had remembered behind this new and improved version.

The transformation of this kind human being continued. This man who was afraid to show himself and afraid to come out of his room, now had a car. From hermit to social butterfly Joe spent much of his leisure time chauffeuring around many of our clients to the grocery store and their medical appointments with no questions asked and out of the goodness of his heart. Sean rewarded Joe for his kindness and his contribution to the shelter by moving him to one of our other more private and self sufficient houses. Even though Joe was now distant from our facility he never forgot the people here that gave him the moral support and the pampering he needed to become the man he now was. He called here every morning to see if anyone needed a ride and whatever he could do to show his appreciation to us all.

We were all Tom Hanks and our motto was “Saving Joe Ryan” and that we did along with his own self will and desire to strengthen himself as well. We all liked Joe simply because there was no reason not to. In the “real world” as we often say pertaining to life outside the four walls of our shelter Joe was the type of guy you could actually call your friend and would be lucky to have as one. From the time we literally had to carry Joe to the time when he carried himself so eloquently he was simply a model client and human being.

SON AND HIS DAD

The best thing that happened to Joe, was his son got back in his life. There was nothing but smiles that appeared on Mr. Joseph Ryan face whenever he spoke of his son. It was conversation after conversation that Joe would bring up his son’s name telling staff what his son was up to. He would smile and the warmth of that smile was that of any normal dad would have towards their child. Joe, he was just a normal dad who chose to live his life in a place that once saved his life. I guess he had a sense of loyalty.

WAS HE HOMELESS, NOT ANYMORE……..

Joe progressed to where he in no way was homeless anymore. The shelter filed all his paper work and got his retirement benefits from not only the Social Security benefits but they also got him his retirement benefits early from his long time job. Joe set the record straight to those who state the homeless are just lazy people. Joe worked his whole life and his income was well above medium income where he was able to retire with his benefits. His benefits were more than what most people make working a forty hour job. This proves he had a very good job in his working days. Joe is an example of how homelessness can happen to anyone.

Tragically Joe passed away in February of natural causes which we are not sure of exactly. I instantly thought of one of my favorite movies, Brian’s Song. A movie that no matter how many times I watched it I cried. Joe’s death was my Brian’s Song. I did not think I was capable of those emotions anymore but after hearing of Joes death all I could do was sit down, put my hands on my face, wipe away all the tears that followed and left this emptiness in my heart and mind knowing I would never see this friend again. Death is permanent and so are memories if you allow them to be. The memory of Joseph Ryan is a memory I will be proud to carry with me every day for as long as I shall live.

THE DAY OF THE FUNERAL

Joe’s son, and other family members came to the shelter and in our church area we had his service. About forty of his friends at the shelter came to pay their respects to their friend Mr. Joe Ryan. Joe my friend, may you rest in peace, and yes Joe you are knocking at Heavens door and yes Jesus kept his promise.

Written By Richard Carlish