Don Oglesby can run a nonprofit organization. But he can’t tread water.
So, he almost drowned.
“When I was 10 years old, I got sucked into this hole in the creek. It started pulling me down, and I couldn't tread water to yell for help,” he says.
Oglesby struggled to push his head up through the water to the surface. That’s all he could manage.
“I went up for the fourth time, and I thought I was probably not coming back up again. A boy named Travis Fitz ... a kid at camp with me … he saw that I was struggling, and he reached out his hand and pulled me out. Then, he just walked away.
“I guess he thought I fell and that all he did was pick me up. I looked for him years later to tell him that he saved my life, but I never found him.”
Now, Oglesby reaches out and pulls people up. So they don’t drown.
The organization he leads, Homes of Hope, helps people rewrite their stories:
Men previously addicted to drugs and alcohol learn skills that prepare them for good jobs.
People who can’t afford a safe, clean place to live can purchase or rent a house built by Homes of Hope.