A New Kind of Hustle
by Christian Piatt

Part 2
“I woke up in this bed with two or three women who weren’t any good for me,’ he recalls, “then I stumbled outside and collapsed, right there in the street.” The police were close by, most likely monitoring his next move, and they promptly took him to the hospital, where he remained under close watch for a month.

Jerry had contracted HIV from a contaminated needle he had used to inject drugs. He was weak and emaciated, having neglected care of himself for far too long. While in the hospital, he met Sharon Stults, chemical dependency counselor at Samaritan House. Jerry had been introduced to Samaritan House once before, and had no interest in getting on such a straight and narrow track. At first, he took his resistance against recovery out on her.

“Mostly I was scared,” he says, recalling those first meetings with Sharon, “but that woman is a Godsend. She (confronted) me, cried with me and held me. It took a long time to get me right, but I’m never going back to that life now.” Jerry, now 54 years old, has been a resident of Samaritan House for almost five years. He has had the chance to transition to his own apartment through the Genesis project, but he chooses to stay where the daily support and security remind him that his recovery is of paramount importance.

Whereas he once worked to serve a merciless habit, he now sees his mission as working for God and Samaritan House. He acts as a Resident Advisor to new or struggling residents, and he is the president of the Resident Council. He coordinates trips to the store, and even helps manage Samaritan House’s annual trip to Galveston for a week. Jerry is also in his second year as a board member on the Samaritan House Board of Directors. He has advocated for such donations as a new pool table, and he coordinated resident efforts to have a garage sale, the proceeds of which went toward their trip and a big-screen television they now share in the common area. His next project is a series of city tours to educate the residents about activities and resources available to them around town.

When Jerry is not hustling to fulfill his duties at Samaritan House, he enjoys relaxing by a local lake to fish. He recently saved up enough money to take a deep sea fishing trip on the coast, where he caught seventeen fish, some as large as twenty-seven pounds. Reunited with several of his family members, he’s planning a cookout at his son’s house soon to celebrate his adventure.

“My grandbaby sent me a shirt that says ‘grandpa’s lucky fishing shirt,’” he says. Jerry attributes his good fortune to the luck bestowed upon him by his family. He finds similar fortune in the love and support he finds at Samaritan House. He talks to his ex-wife of twenty-one years only occasionally, and often regrets the loss of her companionship. However, he spends little time living in regret of the past these days. Instead, he is too busy counting his blessings and sharing them with others.

“If I can help some other people along the way, then my whole life wasn’t in vain,” he explains as he glances at his watch, late for his next appointment. “But as far as I’m concerned, this is it. We’re living like millionaires.”