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Don
Homeless Drug User Donates Thousands to Gallery
For two years, 56-year-old alcohol and crack user Don panhandled and slept
in the doorway of the Blue Room Gallery in San Francisco. He recently
expressed his gratitude for owner Paul Mahder's kindness a month ago with
a check for $10,000, the first money he spent since he received a sudden
inheritance of $187,000 from his estranged mother.
"They've been good to me for years at this gallery, and I wanted to pay
them back. I know I haven't led much of a life to be proud of, and I can't
even remember half of it. But for once, I wanted to do something right,"
Don said.
For 25 years, Don was in and out of prison for burglaries and robberies.
He has stayed out of jail for four years, but has been homeless and
addicted to crack and alcohol, sometimes going on binges with the monthly
$850 federal disability money he has been receiving for over a year.
After his contribution, Don moved into a clean residential hotel and began
drug and alcohol counseling. He is currently looking for a trailer park
for his new home, a $35,000 trailer.
"He's trying very hard to get his life in order, and we want to make sure
he makes the best use of his resources," said Seth Katzman, a director at
Conard House, a nonprofit agency for poor and homeless people where social
workers had been working with Don since before he received his
inheritance. Don hadn't seen his mother for over 35 years when executors of her estate were finally able to locate him. "I never had anything, and now all of a
sudden being hit with all this money is a shock," he said. "Ten thousand
bucks only begins to say the kind of thanks I need to say to these guys.
They saved my life when I was at the absolute bottom."
Mahder visited Don in the hospital a year ago after he had a heart attack.
"He gave me respect and hope when I needed it most, and he never judged
me," Don said. "He treated me like a human being."
Don showed his appreciation for Mahder and the gallery in other ways.
"He loved the art so much he became sort of a marketing person for us --
he told everyone he met that the gallery was great and that they should
come see it," said Mahder.
When Don handed Mahder the donation, the two burst into tears. "Don was
crying because, I think, he was able to really do something big for
something he really cared about," said Mahder.««
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