Pictured above is Donny. The photo used for the episode thumbnail is him with his daughter Donnelle.
Donny tragically passed away from hypothermia a couple days before he was to get housing and get off the street. This episode shares some clips from his interviews, and I interview Pastor Steve from the Washington St. Mission, the religious non-profit through he was connected with a case worker that linked him with housing. Pastor Steve performed a memorial service for him, as he does for many others in the community. We talk about other recent deaths and the difficulty of navigating those as part of his job, his interactions with Donny, and more.
I learned about this a while ago, but I didn’t know if I should write a post here or what so I just decided to hang on and wait till I could put out another podcast episode about it. I learned about it a few weeks after it happened. I knew he had been close to getting housing from the last time we spoke, but not until I met Pastor Steve did I realize just how close he was. I’m planning on interviewing his fiancé that he was out there with for 12 years and interviewing her, and if that happens, I will post that also. I don’t know what to say about it besides it is awful. I hope I can do him a small amount of justice by sharing his story. I suggest going back and listening to the first episode titled “Donny” before listening to this.
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