October 2019 Newsletter
Turning Hate into Love…
Hi, I am Tim and I’m an alcoholic. I have been sober and clean for over 4 years. That’s me on the right with Jack Repp, a holocaust survivor. I will get to that part later in my story.
My story starts with my parents who were born in Ireland but moved to San Antonio and had 5 sons in Texas. I was the youngest. My Dad was a workaholic and was a provider financially but not there emotionally. Unfortunately, 3 of my brothers died in their early teenage years to muscular dystrophy. I was very close to my brother Sean and this was a devastating blow to me. My mother was distraught over the death of her 3 sons and was fighting depression. My Dad soon divorced my mom and I was left alone since my mom was not there for me. To fight the emotional pain, I started drinking at 13 years old. By 14, I was homeless and by 15, I was selling drugs to support myself. I was also shoplifting and breaking into cars and soon quit school. Lucky for me, a family took a liking to me and started to look after me. I got my life back in order, finished high school and started attending Southwest Texas in San Marcos. I got married and was an absentee Dad like my father. I was drinking and started to do cocaine. Because of my drinking, I got divorced and then remarried again. I started to rack up the DWIs – had 4 and started to go to Alcoholic Anonymous (AA). I was 6 years clean and sober and got very complacent. Quit going to AA meetings, quit calling my sponsor and quit hanging around my sober friends. One day, I decided to drink because I thought I could control it. First day, I had 3 drinks, second day I got really drunk and on the third day I got my 5th DWI. I headed straight to Texas prison and got a 12 year sentence. I did 8 years and paroled to Soul’s Harbor. Because of my upbringing and being in prison so long, I developed racist ideas. At Soul’s Harbor, they taught me about love and that we are all children of God – no matter of race, creed or sexual orientation. A couple months ago, I went to the Holocaust Museum in Dallas to work on my racist tendencies. I met Jack Repp, a Holocaust survivor, and we clicked right away. I can also say that my best friend is Terry, a black man who I met at Soul’s Harbor. Soul’s Harbor has helped me reconnect with my family, land a great job and throw away my prejudice. Thank you Soul’s Harbor for a life that I could never imagine.
Thank you Big Blue…
Last week, Reggie and I were invited to IBM Employee Charitable Contribution Campaign Kickoff Meeting in Coppell, Texas. We were able to discuss our positive impact to homeless men in North Texas to many IBM’ers who attended the Kickoff. We look forward to welcoming IBM’ers next week to Soul’s Harbor who will be participating in our winter vegetable garden project.
A big “Soul’s Harbor” thank you to IBM and our Board Member Kim Lockwood who made this possible.
We need your help…
Soul’s Harbor homeless shelter is supported solely by our four thrift stores. You can donate your household items via phone (972-286-1940) or our “Household Donation Request Form” page. We also take automobiles “Vehicle Donation Request Form“. So if you have old clothes, furniture, appliances, household items, or even a car to donate to Soul’s Harbor, either fill out our online form or call our dispatch office at 972-286-1940. Our dispatch office is open Monday through Saturday from 7:00 AM to 6:00 PM.
We are sustained solely through our four thrift store sales. We rely on your donated items to support our shelter. At Soul’s Harbor, we would like to thank all our customers that donate their items and also our thrift store customers. Because without our customers, there would be no Soul’s Harbor.
Thank you and God Bless.
Brent Burmaster
Executive Director of Soul’s Harbor Homeless Shelter
Dispatch Representative/Main Contact Number:
Soul’s Harbor, Incorporated
13134 Nile Drive
Dallas, Texas 75253
972.286.1940
972.286.5282 Fax
contact@soulsharbordallas.org
Thank you so much for your financial consideration. Note, your tax-deductible contributions may also be submitted through PayPal to donate@soulsharbordallas.org.*Please note: Users of Internet Explorer 8 and above may experience difficulties with our PayPal “Donate” button. Please access PayPal directly to make a financial contribution to Soul’s Harbor, Inc. Thank you!
