It’s hard to tell who saved who when Ginger Sprouse and Victor Hubbard became friends. Sprouse gave Hubbard, who was homeless and suffering from untreated mental illness, a home, a job, and helped to get him mental health services.
But Hubbard helped bring Sprouse “closer to God.”
“I never understood the power of a ‘hello’ before August 2016. This hello changed the course of my life, brought me a new family member, challenged me, grew me, frustrated me, and ultimately brought me closer to God,” Sprouse told Fox News.
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Even Hubbard knew that their meeting was God sent.
“She came around and she kind of saved me,” Hubbard told KHOU. “She helped me. It’s like grace.”
Before coming face to face with Hubbard, Sprouse didn’t have the best view of homeless people.
“I would say why don’t you get a job or what’s your problem. It made me very uncomfortable. I didn’t want anything to do with it. I’d been that way my whole life,” she told CBS Evening News.
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But one day Sprouse decided that this was something that she didn’t like about herself and committed to changing it.
Sprouse would see Hubbard up to four times a day while driving as he stood talking to himself at Nasa Road and El Camino Real in Kemah, Texas.
She even called the police and social services to see if someone could help him, but never stopped to speak with him. People in town began talking about Hubbard saying that someone should do something about him. Sprouse eventually decided to be that person.
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She admits that she was scared when he approached her vehicle one day. But as soon as he spoke to her, she realized it was “OK” and that he just wanted a friend to talk to.
The two started talking and Sprouse learned that he was battling mental illness and went homeless after his mother left him. She became friendly with Hubbard who always looked forward to her visits, telling others he “had a friend named Ginger.”
“She talked to me every day. I tried to keep a smile on my face but behind it I was thankful. I knew I was going through something but I tried not to let it get the best of me,” Hubbard told TODAY of meeting Sprouse and his living situation.
Hubbard’s gratitude and ability to smile in the face of adversity really wowed Sprouse.
“He’s the most positive person I know,” she said.
After that, she had a tough time getting Hubbard out of her mind, especially one cold rainy December night. She opened the Bible to pray for comfort and picked out a random verse, James 2:14-17, which read:
“What good is it, my brothers and sisters, if someone claims to have faith but has no deeds? Can such faith save them? Suppose a brother or sister is without clothes and daily food. If one of you says to them, ‘Go in peace; keep warm and well fed,’ but does nothing about their physical needs, what good is it? In the same way, faith by itself, if it is not accompanied by action, is dead.”
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Sprouse could no longer just give Hubbard kind words of friendship.
“I could not leave him there,” she said.
She knew that Hubbard had some warm blankets to sleep in but worried how he would keep dry so she asked her husband if she could pick up Hubbard and have him stay with them for the night.
“Honestly, when she said ‘I feel compelled to help this guy’, how can I say no?” Sprouse’s husband explained.
Sprouse’s compassion spiraled from there.
She and her husband invited Hubbard to stay with them until he was able to get back on his feet. She also gave him a job at the cooking school she owns and helped him get hooked up with social services to get help with his mental and physical health and other needs. And it wasn’t always an easy task.
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“Negotiating the mental health and social services system has been quite an eye-opener. We have wonderful resources that are VERY difficult to maneuver-I can’t imagine how a person living on the street could ever get anything accomplished,” said Sprouse.
Sprouse was also moved to share Hubbard’s story on Facebook.
That’s when the community jumped in to help. More than $36,000 was raised to help Hubbard.
Now he is living on his own, working full time, healthy, and providing for himself.
Hubbard’s uncle ended up hearing about Hubbard’s story after it went viral and reconnected Hubbard with his mother.
“I got to talk to her and I really feel like I accomplished something,” Hubbard said.
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Hubbard says that he hopes his story will help inspire others to change their lives for the better.
“I think everyone can learn something from my story, to know that I had the courage to transform into and become a better person,” Hubbard said.
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And it likely has, especially since Sprouse has written their story in a book titled by Hubbard: “Kinda Like Grace.”
Proceeds from the book will go toward building a home for someone in need.
Hubbard hopes that he can continue thriving and help others to do the same.
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“I would just like to be a people person be able to help someone get to the next level by my story or my actions,” he said. “Just anything to uplift a person and push them to the limit you know.”
Hubbard explains that if you’re going to love people you have to “step into their mess” since life is messy instead of trying to avoid that mess.
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“I’m grateful for the reminder in James 2 to put action behind your words. That’s what Jesus did, he came to seek and save the lost,” she said. “I invite you to think about it, to look around you, find someone you don’t know and just see what might happen. A friendly hello to a stranger might show the person that he or she is not invisible or alone in the world.”
While Hubbard learned to receive love, Sprouse learned how to give love. Their story is the perfect embodiment of how much we can help and learn from each other, especially when we are vastly different.
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