BUFFALO, N.Y. (WKBW) — Stories of the homeless drive brothers Alex and Nate Johns to continue their dad's 26-year-long mission to bring attention to homelessness in Buffalo and live on the street for a week.
They are continuing the tradition this year without their dad, Reverend Eric Johns from the Buffalo Dream Center, for the first time. He has taken a step back from Homeless Week duties.
Although they're without their dad, they brought their cousins Thomas, Jackson and Levi Rutherford along with them.
"We've been doing it for about seven years with my dad, with him, alongside him and learning from him," Alex said.
They will spend five nights this week under the bridge on Exchange Street across from the Amtrak station.
"We packed our backpacks, we're out here morning to night, no cheating is what we say!" Alex added.
"It's just really opened up my eyes," said Nate. "Sometimes people are just as simple as being down on their luck and that's why they end up on the street or addictions and or problems with landlords. It can be a big number of issues."
As they continue their mission to draw attention to the homeless population, they will also partner with other organizations to feed the homeless and less fortunate.
Monday night, I tagged along as they partnered with Friends Feeding Friends to hand out hot meals and drinks at Farmer's Park in Downtown Buffalo.
"I've seen the struggle and the hardships that they've gone through but then the impact at the end of it is that some of them are getting houses and getting jobs and starting families," Friends Feeding Friends CEO of Organization Anna Wiese said. "It's awesome to get set free from addiction and stuff like that."
This gives people like Jeanna Lechner hope and a reason to keep trying to put their best foot forward.
A decade of Lechner's life was spent on the streets.
"After a big spout of crack cocaine and nine brain surgeries, one day I just decided I didn't want to do that anymore," Lechner said.
The Hamburg native found herself in Buffalo without a home, alienated from her family because of her addiction.
"I lost a lot in the middle, between it all too," Lechner explained. "I didn't get to see my daughter get married. I didn't go to my sister's funeral...I lost a lot of family who are still living just because of my stupidity.
"I had 9 aunts and one uncle. They are all gone, including my mother. That's the hard part because everybody I was close with only saw me when I was doing stupid. They don't see me for what I can do now."
It is a hefty price to pay after struggling for so long.
Today, Lechner rents her own house in Buffalo. She told me she has reconnected with her dad, her son and a cousin.
"You have overcome a lot. What is life like for you now?" I asked Lechner.
"Strange," Lechner said. "From living under a bridge to hearing all the trucks and the noises, you get comforted by that. Now that you're in a house, you can't sleep. You're not used to that or being able to take a shower whenever you want," she shared with tears in her eyes.
The Buffalo Dream Center is following through with its Christmas campaign once again this year. The goal is to give food to 4,000 families this Christmas and thousands of unwrapped gifts to children.
To help donate or volunteer time with the distribution process, click here.
