NORWALK — Pushing a cart full of bottles and cans, Paris Stricklin asked no one for money. He became a staple on his Avenue in Connecticut and people started bringing cans and bottles to him. On a particularly cold day just before Christmas, after Norwalk nanny Amy Stackhouse brought her cans, she decided she needed to do something more for Stricklin. .
“I remember driving home thinking, ‘Let’s start a fire.’ I just want to get inside,” Stackhouse said. “I walked into my house and even the homeless people who don’t have the luxury of getting out of the cold started crying thinking of Paris.
“I wanted to put something together specifically for him, so I thought of a warm sleeping bag for him to sleep outside and perhaps a few other items: a gift card from the supermarket where he could easily buy a meal.”
Beyond her expectations, the community rallied to support Stricklin when she started with a Facebook post. Total strangers donated items and sent money to her Stackhouse through her Venmo mobile payment app. I used Venmo to purchase new sleeping bags and other items for Stricklin. The rest of the money went towards her $100 ShopRite gift card.
Stackhouse posted a photo of everything the community had bought and after thanking everyone, delivered the bag to Stricklin.
“It started with the simple thing that anyone with a heart wouldn’t want to see someone cold and freezing, no one starving and homeless,” Stackhouse said. “I think this guy in particular is a very familiar face in the area.”
Stricklin lost his job and left Columbus, Georgia, for Manhattan in 2017. Since then, he has been homeless and living on the East Coast. Stricklin lives in every borough of New York City and in 2018 took a train from Manhattan to Connecticut with the intention of returning to New York.
However, he was unable to catch the train to Manhattan and has remained in Connecticut ever since. Stricklin explained that he deliberately chose not to ask people for money because he didn’t want strangers yelling at him to “find a job” or “stop bumming.” He asked people anything.
But supplies were just the beginning of community generosity. Community neighbor Victoria Hines commented on her post with her new idea to help Stricklin, after which Hines devoted herself to finding a way to provide Stricklin with a hotel stay for Christmas. Created your own post.
“From there it really, really blew up,” Stackhouse said. “The money was just starting to pour in and people were sharing the post. Then I put it on my personal page. This will be my last attempt to make enough money to stay one more night so I can check him out on the night of , and on my page, another big spurt of generosity.
Combined with donations to the hotel and the first post, Stackhouse said the total amount raised for Stricklin was over $4,700. Although he’s staying in a hotel now, he said he considers the hotel his home because Stricklin never had a home of his own.
“I didn’t have a place for myself,” Stricklin said. “I never had my own car. …Now, fortunately, I have my own.
Permanent housing is more likely in the near future. From a Facebook post, two of his people who work in low-income housing can reach out to her Stackhouse and Hines to help Stricklin navigate the paperwork needed.
He doesn’t have a permanent residence yet, so according to Stackhouse, he needs to move, so physical donations are tricky. Instead, donating through Venmo or directly to Stricklin is more helpful as it helps direct the next steps in Stricklin’s journey toward what’s needed.
“It helps a lot,” says Stricklin. “I accept my condition and that I have been homeless for the last few years. And I never asked anyone for money…all I want to do is hold two bottles in my hand and squeeze them.
Stackhouse hopes that Stricklin’s story and the community’s generosity will help change the way people view people experiencing homelessness.
“I want people to understand that these are not just homeless entities.
