...And the Oscar Goes to...

Since the beginning of our endeavor to provide housing for the homeless, thousands of people have passed through the open doors at Samaritan House. Each person has a unique story and our brief time with them provides only a snapshot of who they are and who they might become. It is easy to make assumptions that life will always be difficult for the homeless; Statistics point to an existence mired in poverty and complications. But we refuse to adopt this attitude and firmly believe those who stay with us for a while can go on to achieve amazing things.

Apple mastermind Steve Jobs crashed on friends' floors during college and returned glass Coke bottles to make a little bit of money. He recalled his meager beginnings during a commencement speech at Stanford University: "I would walk the 7 miles across town every Sunday night to get one good meal a week at the Hare Krishna temple."

Halle Berry found herself homeless when she was first starting her career in Chicago. She told Reader's Digest that she is actually grateful for the situation, saying, “It taught me how to take care of myself and that I could live through any situation, even if it meant going to a shelter for a small stint, or living within my means, which were meager."

Jim Carrey opened up about his experience with homelessness in an interview with “Inside the Actors Studio” host James Lipton. Carrey recalled, “My father was a musician who got a 'regular job' to support his children. When he lost his job, that's when everything fell apart. We went from 'lower middle class' to 'poor.' We were living out of a van. I quit school at age 15 to begin working to help support my family as a janitor.”

So, who knows what will become of our residents once they depart Samaritan House and head off to whatever is next? I am not prophesying the next Academy Award winner will be from Kalispell. My expectations do not measure greatness through a celebratory grid; success is not defined by public notoriety or how magazine covers or financial portfolios. All I'm advocating is that we only see our residents for a short time and then they are gone so perhaps their paths can lead to places we would never expect. I'm not proclaiming the next Steve Jobs is at our shelter.

...of course I'm not ruling it out, either.