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News at City Union Mission

Same Kind of Different As Me
One Man's Story from Homelessness to Recognized Philanthropist
June 15, 2009
 

Denver was born in rural Louisiana in January 1937, and after several tragic events went to live on a plantation in Red River Parish with his Uncle James and Aunt Ethel, who were share croppers.

Sometime around 1960, he hopped a freight train and began a life as a homeless drifter until 1966 when a judge awarded him a 10 year contract for hard labor at the Louisiana State School of Fools, aka, Angola Prison!

According to Denver, he went in a man and left a man and received a standing ovation from prisoners in the yard as he walked out of there in 1976.  For the next 22 years he was homeless on the streets of Fort Worth, Texas.  However, there were a few times after a brush with the law, he'd ride the rails visiting cities and hobo jungles across America, sampling regional cuisine like Vienna sausages with fellow passengers.

 In 1998, "He never met Miss Debbie," Miss Debbie met him and his life was changed forever.

Today, he is an artist, public speaker, and volunteer for homeless causes.  In 2006, as evidence of the complete turn around of his life, the citizens of Fort Worth honored him as "Philanthropist of the Year" for his work with homeless people at the Union Gospel Mission.

A complimentary two-chapter excerpt of Same Kind of Different as Me is available for download.  To visit the webpage for the book, click here.  To buy it on Amazon.com, click here.

 
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City Union Mission is an evangelical Christian ministry committed to sharing the gospel and meeting the spiritual, physical and emotional needs of men, women and children who are poor or homeless. The Mission has been restoring hope to Kansas City's poor and homeless for over 82 years. Last year, City Union Mission provided almost 292,000 meals for the hungry and over 127,000 beds for the weary.

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