UPDATE: Homeless man rescued near Aitkin
Adam Johnson made statewide news last week when he tried walking from Grand Rapids to Minneapolis in subzero temperatures – a nearly 200-mile trek. Some Good Samaritans and a state trooper rescued him near the city of Aitkin, where he was lying down on the side of Highway 169.
Today we caught up with Johnson at The Salvation Army Harbor Light Shelter in Minneapolis (pictured), where he’s been staying since last week. So far, his life is headed in the right direction – including employment, housing and rehabilitation.
Incredibly, Johnson already has a full-time job.
“It’s at a bakery out in Fridley,” he said. “I start tomorrow – 6 a.m. to 2 p.m.”
He has affordable permanent housing lined up Minneapolis.
“I just have to finish the paperwork,” said Johnson, who will continue staying at Harbor Light until he moves into his new place.
Additionally, Johnson has enrolled in Harbor Light’s Beacon chemical dependency program.
“Everything’s coming together,” he said. “I just need to stick with it, do the legwork and keep my nose clean.”
He is thankful for The Salvation Army.
“Everybody’s been helping me out,” Johnson said. “I couldn’t ask for a better place.”
The bigger picture
From The Salvation Army’s perspective, Johnson’s story illustrates an important fact: The lack of homeless shelters in northern Minnesota does not equate to a lack of homeless people.
The Salvation Army in Brainerd – located 30 miles from Aitkin – knows this firsthand.
“In reality, there are many homeless people up north, and we are doing all we can to serve them,” affirmed Lt. Grant Holloway (pictured), co-leader of the Brainerd Salvation Army.
Brainerd is located in Crow Wing County, adjacent to Aitkin County. Shelters do not exist in either county, leaving the Brainerd Salvation Army as one of the region’s only agencies to serve the area’s homeless population.
It’s a job that keeps Holloway and his team busy: “We put people up in hotels multiple days a week,” he said. “It’s not a one-time thing or a spontaneous thing. It happens very regularly here.”
In fact, on the same night Johnson was rescued near Aitkin, the Brainerd Salvation Army housed four other homeless people.
“Our case manager was at a hotel putting them into rooms that night,” Holloway said.
Johnson wound up sleeping on the floor of the Aitkin County Sheriff’s office – a common scenario in remote towns and counties.
“This happens in many county sheriff’s offices throughout northern Minnesota,” said Cathy Sullivan, a Salvation Army field representative who coordinates Salvation Army services in northern Minnesota. “These offices provide a safe, warm place in towns or counties where there is no homeless shelter.”
Often, The Salvation Army and local law enforcement work together to serve people experiencing homelessness.
“We get calls from the police about housing people,” Holloway explained. “At that point our case manager goes out to interview the person, gets them in a room for the night, and meets with them the next day to work on the reasons they are experiencing homelessness.”
In other cases, law enforcement in Aitkin and other counties are able to write hotel vouchers on behalf of The Salvation Army.
“In Aitkin, for example, the local sheriff is the treasurer of The Salvation Army’s service unit for Aitkin County,” Sullivan said, noting that The Salvation Army serves every county in Minnesota through its Service Extension program.
In addition to shelter, the Brainerd Salvation Army offers special foods to those experiencing homelessness.
“For people living outside, we provide foods that are easy to prepare and can be cooked over a campfire, like hamburgers and hot dogs,” said Linda Loftus, coordinator of the Brainerd Salvation Army food shelf (pictured). “We also offer special snap-top boxes of food for people living in their cars. These boxes are filled with foods that are easy to heat or can be eaten cold, along with plates, cups and silverware they can take with them.”
Please join The Salvation Army by volunteering or making a donation to support your local community.