Angel
Hi, My name is
Angel.
Angel came to Philadelphia with hope and ambition. A traumatic accident, addiction and homelessness nearly took everything from him. Today, five months after walking through Philly House's doors, he is rebuilding his life, reconnecting with his family and looking toward the future.
A New Beginning
The scar on Angel's head tells only part of his story.
A 38-year-old man from Puerto Rico who came to Philadelphia chasing work and opportunity, Angel once paid his bills, held factory jobs and helped his neighbors. Then in August 2021, while incarcerated, he was in an accident so severe that Angel woke up in a hospital without part of his skull, a breathing tube in his throat, seizures rattling his body and his memory in pieces.
"I thought I was going to die," he recalls. He nearly did.
Unable to work, stripped of stability and with no family nearby, Angel fell into a years-long battle with addiction and homelessness on the streets of Philadelphia. At his lowest, he was sleeping on the pavement in Kensington. He was robbed, beaten and exposed to bitter winters so cruel that he almost lost his hands to frostbite.
"It's a perdition," he says of those streets. "It's another world. It's an experience I wouldn't want anybody else to have."
In those darkest hours, Angel cried out to God. He knows with his whole heart that God answered and directed him to Philly House.
Five months ago, Angel walked through our doors. And that is when everything began to change.
"It's a hope," he says, voice lifting. "A new beginning. A new start. When you come here, you feel that there is hope."
“It’s a hope. A new beginning. A new start. When you come here, you feel that there is hope.”
Case managers have been beside him every step, helping him navigate housing assessments and transitional programs. He attends mental health therapy and is seven months clean. Perhaps most tender of all, he has reconnected with his mother, whom he had not seen in nearly 28 years, and with his brother, now in Connecticut.
"Are they proud of you?" he was asked.
"Yes, yes, yes," he says, smiling broadly.
Today, Angel is pursuing disability benefits, dreaming of his driver's license, attending church and planning to reunite with his family. He has found himself again after years of suffering.
He wants donors to know their generosity reaches far beyond any one person.
"Continue doing it," he says of those who give, "because that inspires people to continue to move forward. That is a help that, thank God, we have it. God bless."
Without Philly House, Angel says simply, he would be on the streets.
"Thank God for this place. Thank you, every person who donated."
Amen, Angel. Amen.
Providing Unconditional
Refuge and Hope
Help us provide hope to the homeless, hungry and hurting of Philadelphia.
