COLUMBUS, Ohio (WCMH) — NBC4 is proud to partner with Community Shelter Board to raise funds and awareness about some of the most vulnerable people in our community — the homeless.

 On Thursday, April 30, we are holding a virtual Call4 from 4 p.m. to 8 p.m. And at 7:30 p.m., we are airing a special presentation called “Under One Roof,” hosted by Colleen Marshall.

We recently featured one of the people Community Shelter Board has helped — a local senior and veteran named Stanford. Here is his story:

The COVID-19 pandemic prompted stay-at-home orders across the country. But you can’t stay home — if you don’t have a home. That’s what Community Shelter Board is trying to fight.

A local senior and veteran was able to find a home, and hope for his future.

Stanford first came to Community Shelter Board after falling on hard times and poor decisions almost 20 years ago. He cleaned his life up and was able to move on until recently experiencing a tragedy that led him right back to the place where he hopes he can once again pick up the pieces.

Originally from Toledo, Stanford joined the Army as an infantryman and says even the best days of his life came with challenges.

“I had a problem with authority. Listen to people telling you to do this, at 17 I should have knew better,” said Stanford.

A problem that would soon catch up with him after leaving the Army due to injury.

“I can’t hear out of one ear and 30 percent out of the other,” Stanford explained. “It’s kind of hard adjusting.”

Trouble adjusting led to drinking and bad decisions that landed him at the National Church Residences Commons for the first time 10 years ago. He got his life together and served as a voice of hope for people facing the court system as he did.

Stanford recalled, “Judge Barrow would ask me to stand up and talk to the inmates who was coming in from behind the door. He would ask me to say my testimony, how I got to where I was at, because I was in jail all of the time too.”

And just as things seemed together, they fell apart. His sister died. Stanford picked up a bottle and got in the car. He landed himself in the same courtroom where he had been a mentor.

“That bothered me. I’m just dealing with it on life terms and today I’m great,” reflected Stanford.

Thanks to people at the VA, his fiance, and Community Shelter Board, at 64, he has hope for his future.

“And if I can give someone else some encouraging words then I don’t mind passing it on,” Stanford said.