"I believe that the most powerful source of energy is the human heart. It's capable of deep compassion and caring. And when someone acts out of that compassion and caring, something in the world changes. A volunteer in a homeless shelter or hospice, a reader to the blind. They may not make the history books or even the 6 o'clock news, but in their quiet way they help repair the broken pieces of the world." — Barbra Streisand
A visit to an ice cream shop. Four friends. One man on a sidewalk who hadn't eaten in days. They didn't call a hotline. They asked him to lunch.
Lonnie had been struck by a hit-and-run driver three days earlier. He'd been discharged from an Oklahoma City emergency room within ninety minutes — crutches, no shoes, no food, no shelter — and left to survive on a city sidewalk.
"Would you like to join us for lunch?"
That question started everything.
Not every homeless person in Norman is visible. Some are doubled up in a relative's home — one argument from the street. Some are sleeping in their cars. Some walked out of Norman Regional or Cleveland County Jail today with nowhere to go. Lonnie had a face. So do all of them.
He wasn't walking on the soles of his feet. He was walking on the sides of his feet for years — because they had swollen to the size of a shoebox. He never complained about it. And with time, his new found friends introduced him to Dr. Mitchell Bloomquist, a Podiatrist serving Norman with Orthopaedic and Sports Medicine Center on Robinson Avenue.
The same toes, at Bellagio Nail Salon in Norman — being tenderly cared for. And fully respected. This is the Business Community of Norman caring for one of their own. This is medicine.
Without it: No healthcare. No food stamps. No housing application. No employment. No bank account. No opportunities.
With it: everything becomes possible.
Once Lonnie had an ID, a bank account, and a permanent address — the full rights of citizenship followed. Including a stimulus check made out in his name.
For a man who had been invisible to the system for twenty years, this piece of paper meant something far beyond its dollar amount. The government knew he existed.
And a haircut at BG's Barber Shop at Sooner Fashion Mall. Norman's business community showed up at every step.
Homelessness takes teeth. Without stable housing, dental care is simply inaccessible — a fact that affects nearly everyone who has lived on the streets for extended periods.
Lonnie got new dentures. He walked out of the dentist's office and the first thing he did was smile at everyone he passed.
(Access made possible by SoonerCare, Dental Depot on Tecumseh and Dental Express Labs — which he could only obtain because someone helped him navigate the system.)
Homelessness doesn't just take away a roof. It takes away teeth. It takes away vision. It takes away hearing. It takes away the ability to walk without pain. It takes away one's health and self esteem — little by little.
A shelter bed does not fix a foot. A shelter bed does not restore a smile. Wraparound care does — and this is what the End Homelessness Norman Initiative is all about: awareness and solutions based on proven methodologies — educating the City of Norman and all who participate in assisting those in need to align ourselves with a Norman Home Free Initiative.
Lonnie on the St. Stephen's United Methodist Church float — riding through the streets of Oklahoma's "City of Love." Not because he supported a particular agenda, but because he was participating with his community in support of others.
Less than a year earlier: left to survive on a hot city sidewalk. Now: a community that accepts him as one of their own. Slowly building back his self confidence and desire to participate and feel cared for, appreciated and loved.
It started with an invitation — "Would you like to eat lunch with us?" And then the motion continued as Lonnie's new found friends took him to their hospital — Norman Regional — for 12 hours of care. They put him up at the Norman Motel 6 for a few weeks to rest and heal as the ER doctor suggested. Found him a more permanent place to sleep.
Made certain he had an OK State ID, Food Stamps, SoonerCare then Humana Health Insurance, his own GP, a Podiatrist, a new pair of glasses from Classic Vision, dentures from Dental Depot, a bank account at City National Bank. New found friends at West Wind Unitarian and St. Stephen's UMC, The Share Center, Salvation Army.
Everywhere he went in Norman, he felt accepted — and the love from his fellow man.
Norman's food truck community. A warm night. A hot meal. A man who is simply living his life.
This is what the end of homelessness looks like. Not a press release. Not a ribbon cutting. Just this.
Lonnie and Nadine — one of his Norman family — doing something completely ordinary.
That is the whole point. The goal was never to make Lonnie a charity case. The goal was to return him to ordinary life. Mission accomplished.
Lonnie at an OU football game — in the stands, in the crowd, part of something bigger than himself.
From a city sidewalk to Owen Field. Norman claimed him. And he claimed Norman right back.
His legal history — criminal offenses, missed court dates, accumulated fines — it is the universal paperwork trail of someone who had been surviving, not living. With help navigating the courts at the Norman Pioneer Courthouse, every charge was addressed, every fine reviewed. A judge absolved him of most of it. Fines were waived.
Independence and Freedom were within reach once again.
A Norman resident gave him a pickup truck. He got his driver's license.
Oklahoma plate QKP 155. Fuson Tag Agency, Norman.
This is the photograph of a person restored to full citizenship. Every detail of this image was impossible two years ago.
The faith communities at Westwind Unitarian and St. Stephen's United Methodist showed up as neighbors. But individual goodness cannot be the only answer. What if Lonnie had never been found? The End Homelessness Norman Initiative exists so the next Lonnie doesn't have to depend on luck.
On the way to see his family for the first time in fifteen years — they stopped at Arches National Park.
A man who hadn't left Oklahoma in two decades, standing beneath one of the most beautiful places on earth. On his own two healed feet.
Truckee, California — a trip around Lake Tahoe.
"This is the first time you've seen me one hundred percent sober in over twenty years."
After returning to Norman, Lonnie collapsed. Heart failure — he would need a pacemaker. Then news from Reno: his mother was in the hospital.
He left immediately to be with his dear mother.
Lonnie was there for his mother's final months. Every day, without fail. Holding her hand. Making sure the nurses knew her name and her needs. Being the son he had always wanted to be — and now, finally, could be.
This is a condensed true human story. The success that happens when our community comes together with a focus, a plan, and love. Not another statistic. A homeless man for 20 years, blessed by members of his community and loved every day for over 12 months. A son, who did all he could to make it back to be with his mother in the final months of her life on earth.
He was there because "charity never faileth" — the compassion of Norman's citizens, faith community, NGOs, businesses, and the tour de force of working together to make a difference and find a home.
Lonnie's story is a window into thousands of lives. The faces change. The story doesn't.
We are talking about everyone who falls through the cracks in Norman:
The End Homelessness Norman Initiative is promoting to the City of Norman and all its citizens the institution of a Housing First system that wraps around every one of these people — and does not let go until they are housed, healthy, and connected.
Be one of the four people who stopped.
Learn More & Vote YES — April 7