HOUSTON—A couple of faithful Star of Hope volunteers battled incredible odds to rebuild their lives and give back to others.
Charles Miles is a homeless veterans specialist at the VA Medical Center who used to be in the same shoes as his clients.
"It grieves my heart to know that we can ask one male or female to go and defend their country, but then when they return we are not willing to employ them,” said Miles.
When Miles returned from Vietnam, he was emotionally scarred. First came drugs, then prison, but he made a fresh start.
“I went to California and - lo and behold - I built a company from two men to 44 men,” he said.
Success in the construction business didn’t bring healing. Soon Miles was back in Houston, broke and homeless.
He went to the Star of Hope mission. A staff member befriended him.
“He offered me to be a part of the program,” Miles said, “so I went through the Star of Hope Men’s Development program.” And never looked back.
He went to college, made the Dean’s list, earned a Master’s degree and got a position at the VA helping homeless vets.
Melody Miles works at the Michael E. DeBakey VA Medical Center also, as a social worker assistant. She too took a long hard road to get there.
“No one wakes up saying that, ‘I want to be homeless. I want to be a drug addict. I want to go to prison,’ “she said.
She once had so many drug-related convictions she was sentenced to life as a repeat offender. Later the sentence was reduced. That’s when she decided get clean and found help at the Star of Hope. When her brother was gravely ill at the VA Hospital, she spent so much time tending to him there that he encouraged her to apply for a job.
“Because I wanted to make him happy, I would do anything to make my brother happy, I say, ‘Okay, Ray. I’ll go see.’” Melody Miles said.
She said she was shocked when they hired her in food service. She worked her way up the ladder, eventually winning several awards for excellence.
One day she and Charles, perfect strangers, were standing in line at a seafood shop and started chatting.
“And all of a sudden the Star of Hope name comes up in the conversation,” said Charles Miles. He invited Melody over for his birthday the next day.
“She shows up with a cupcake with a candle in it and a little flower and that just, it just tore me up,” he said. “It was just something I had never experienced.”
They got married. That was 12 years ago.
Both now volunteer at the mission that used to serve them. Charles was even a Star of Hope board member. They also have a ministry, helping the down and out.
“She and I have the same passion for (ministering to) hurting people,” Charles Miles said.
Two people who used to be on drugs, in prison and homeless improbably found healing, purpose and each other.
