Meet Geronimo. He’s the founder of Footprints of Michigan. It’s an organization with a goal to give every homeless veteran and person across the city a pair of shoes. The idea came to him after seeing the need first-hand.
“Seeing a young man on the streets with torn and tattered shoes and you know from there it just snowballed into what we have now five years later. It’s grown tremendously,” said Geronimo Larma.
And today the words thank you, thank you, thank you, echoed throughout Geronimo’s bus nicknamed “The Sole Train.” More than forty people from the veteran and homeless community came through to trade in their beaten down shoes for a fresh new pair. And volunteers here say, it’s the stories they keep hearing that inspire them.
“We had one guy tell us about committing suicide and he tried to kill himself but then when he hung himself the rafter broke and now he is a motivational speaker for the VA and goes around to talk to suicide to other veterans,” said Footprints of Michigan volunteer.
Geronimo doesn’t take a salary and left his job at UAW to devote himself to the cause full-time. He says, the mission stays the same.
“To help as many people as possible whether they are veteran or non-veteran and just basically give people back dignity and comfort to themselves that are on the street by giving them good comfortable shoes.”
To reach his goal, Geronimo needs the help of the community and not just with shoes but with funding to keep the cause alive.
