‘I ain’t homeless no more’; community rallies in support of man in need

Spencer Mohler, left, of Randall shakes hands with James Arnold, right. Mohler and his wife have donated the use of the camper to James, who was homeless.

Jewell Co. couple donates camper, RV park owner offers a place to live

By CRISTINA JANNEY
Hays Post

James Arnold’s friend Preston Wolf said James was almost in tears when a stranger pulled in at Wolf Furniture Galleries on Friday morning with a camper — a camper that was going to be James’ new home.

James has been homeless for 16 years. About a year and half ago James moved into a makeshift shelter cobbled out of cardboard, shipping pallets and sheets of plastic behind the Hays furniture store

Wolf, owner of Wolf Furniture, has been trying to help James get back on his feet. However, on Oct. 30 the City of Hays sent Wolf a letter saying Arnold had to leave his shelter by Friday because the property was not zoned residential.

Caroline von Lintel, owner of the RV Village on Vine, read a story Hays Post about Arnold and offered a camper pad at her park with all fees and utilities paid.

She was looking for a camper when Spencer Mohler of Randall, Kan., contacted von Lintel after seeing the story about James on social media. He let her and Wolf know Arnold could use his family camper indefinitely.

Mohler and his wife cleaned out the camper Thursday night, and Spencers drove the camper to Hays this morning for James.

“James was kind of peaking around the corner and tip toeing around, and when he found out that was his, it was if he just got issued a new lease on life,” von Lintel said. “There’s a spring in his step, and he said ‘I’m going to have a barbecue for everybody in the summer time.’ ”

The von Lintels also own the Wendy’s in town, and she said she would look into hiring him at the RV park or at Wendy’s.

“We want to get him in front of the people he needs to figure out where he’s at and what he needs,” she said. “Once we have that and feel he has his feet on the ground, we’ll just offer more opportunities as he is able to take it on.”

Now that James is no longer homeless he hopes to get a job and save some money.

Von Lintel has a history of working with homeless shelters, including Esther’s House and another shelter in Arizona.

“I’ve had some hard times myself. I’ll be honest with you,” she said. “When I read that, I know that feeling. I know what he felt. I just felt it. I said, ‘No, no, no, we are Hays. We can do this. Maybe Hays doesn’t have something in place now, but maybe this will create the synergy to get something in place. We are not a cold-hearted community. We care.’ ”

She continued, “People want to help. They just don’t know how. Hays is an amazing community. You don’t know how many calls I have got about clothes and food and bedding and whatever he needs.”

Von Lintel said she got more out of helping James than he did, because she knows now he can have some peace and start rebuilding his life.

“There is no one who needs to be homeless in Hays,” von Lintel said. “We can figure something out.”

Spencer Mohler, 26, said his family did not have much invested in the camper, were not using it and saw a chance to help someone else.

“I have never been homeless and I hope I never am homeless, but things do happen,” Mohler said. “I’ve been in lower places, and I know what it’s like trying to get out of whatever might be going on to get back on your feet and sometimes you need a little bit of help. I only had $1,500 in the camper, and that probably felt like $1 million to him.”

James’ former homeless encampment behind Wolf Furniture Galleries.

Mohler said they have opted to retain ownership of the camper for now, so James doesn’t have to pay the taxes.

When Mohler first brought up the idea of letting James use the camper to his wife, she said he was nuts. However, she read the story about James and the couple ultimately decided allow James to use the camper.

“If I can help someone who just a little worse off than I am, it’s all worth it,” he said.

Von Lintel and Wolf said they were flooded with calls and contacts of people hoping to help James in some way.

Someone donated an ACCESS bus pass. On the Rocks has offered him meals. Someone from LINK has offered to help James fill out paperwork to apply for assistance with medical needs.

James had few words Friday. He seemed overwhelmed, but happy and grateful. He talked about his goals of finding work and saving money. “Security,” he said excitedly. He knows know he has a place he and his belongings can be safe.

“I have knots in my stomach,” he said. “I have butterflies.”

Sitting on the couch in the camper, a huge grin curled over his wrinkled face.

“I ain’t homeless no more,” he said. “I have a home.”

Hays has no homeless shelter. First Call for Help is working on a project to build a transitional housing unit in its current building at 607 E. 13th. You can donate to that project by clicking here.