On December 13th, Terence Lester made his way to the streets with his friend Mark Moore. Terence wore a sandwich board that read, “HIRE MARK.”
Mark has been experiencing homelessness for the last four years. He encountered Terence and his nonprofit, Love Beyond Walls, a year ago while he was digging through their dumpster in search of food.
Over the last year, Love Beyond Walls has worked with Mark to help him find temporary shelter, access to food and water, clothes, and a way to begin the process to transition out of homelessness. The greatest hurdle he encountered was getting his ID card so he could apply for jobs and open a bank account.
Since launching the campaign on Wednesday, Mark has had four interviews and dozens of phone calls and emails.
On the first day of the campaign, Mark opened his bank account, printed his resume, and took to the streets. By the end of the week, he had talked to dozens of people on the streets, was interviewed by news teams, had a laptop donated, as well as two suits from D&K.
Terence and Love Beyond Walls accomplished most of this by leveraging the power of technology and social media for good and to bring people together.
At 3 pm on Monday, December 18th, Mark had a second interview with a sales company and was offered a job.
This year for Christmas, Mark is given opportunity. He will escape homelessness, with a community behind him to support his transition.
Love Beyond Walls plans to use this process as a model to help transition more people out of homelessness.
