Pastor gives helping hand to homeless veteran

WILLIAM COLGIN/SUN HERALD Vietnam veteran, Early Johnson, is no longer homeless after being given an apartment by Pastor Lee Adams who sought out Johnson after reading about his situation in a Sun Herald story on Sunday.

Pastor gives helping hand to homeless veteran
Reverend provides apartment
By MICHAEL NEWSOM - mmnewsom@sunherald.com
GULFPORT — Navy veteran Early Johnson moved into a clean, spacious apartment Thursday in a quiet neighborhood near downtown.

For many South Mississippians, that wouldn’t be very noteworthy, but until he had unpacked his precious few belongings there, Johnson was one of an estimated 131,000 U.S. veterans who are homeless on any given night, according to the Department of Veterans Affairs.

Thanks to the generosity of the Rev. Lee Adams, pastor of Little Rock Missionary Baptist Church in Gulfport, the veteran of the Vietnam era now has a home. Adams had kept an apartment that he was letting a young couple use until they found a place to live. The couple moved out in August, and at the time, Adams felt he needed to keep the apartment, but he said he really wasn’t sure why.

Adams said it all became clear Sunday night when he read in the Sun Herald about Johnson’s life as a homeless veteran and dialysis patient, who is disabled and on waiting lists for public housing and not able to find a place of his own on the money he makes working part time at the Biloxi VA. It was Johnson’s quote that he was able to survive on the streets by putting his trust in God, whom he said took care of him, which spurred the reverend into action.
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