Alvin Montgomery admits he's made some mistakes, but with some help from MLM and his own initiative, he's working steadily and even starting his own company.

Long Road Takes Turn for the Better

Alvin Montgomery is not bashful about admitting he’s made mistakes in his 55 years. More important, however, are the giant strides he’s made in turning his life around.

Alvin today works as an interior and exterior house painter for a Johnson County company and through his own business as Montgomery Painting. The distance between his life today and that of his past as a homeless man is dramatic.

“I made it back,” he explained, holding back a tear. “A lot of us don’t. I was one in a million. God made it possible; that’s all I can say.”

Several years ago, Alvin realized he had to change his life. He had begun attending services at True Light Church-Nazarene and started visiting nearby Metro Lutheran Ministry’s Saturday breakfast program.

“I met people who helped me,” he recalled. “I knew from the beginning they were real. Being out on the street lets you know a phony from someone who is real.”

He visited MLM in his work clothes—clothes not surprisingly covered in paint. Director Jim Glynn introduced Alvin to John Stewart, who in turn introduced Alvin to a contractor from Johnson County. That led to jobs helping a paint crew for the contractor’s painting team.

In a perfect world, that would have been the end of the story, but anyone dealing with real poverty knows things are rarely so simple.

Alvin had no transportation. So each day, he would board the earliest bus possible at 5:40 a.m. and navigate the series of transfers that took him as close as possible to the day’s work site. Most of the time, that left several miles for him to walk, and he often arrived late—the buses simply didn’t start early enough.

“Because he had to walk two miles with all of his gear, it was usually 9:30 before he got to work,” Glynn explained. “It just wasn’t working.”

Six weeks ago, an MLM board member and Stewart “conspired” to purchase an old pickup truck and transfer the title to Alvin, who would pay off the vehicle at $100 a month. MLM then stepped in with the first-ever use of the Faye Cowee Fund to purchase ladders, a sprayer and other gear necessary for him to operate independently. The fund, sponsored by the Glasnapp Foundation, was designed for just such unusual needs and was named in honor of a long-time MLM Community Care Manager, who retired.

Alvin also brought significant work skills. He is quick to credit his parents with having given him the tools to succeed. Growing up near Detroit, he had worked as a painter with his father and remembers well the lessons learned from his mother, a former teacher. “She’s still working as a beautician at the age of 81,” he noted. “We learned to work.”

Alvin came to Kansas City several years ago because of many problems—including time in jail. He’s obviously learned a better way. “The main thing I learned is you can always turn to God, and God is always going to be there for you. There are still good people in this world, really good people who will help you if you try to help yourself. That’s what really got into my head. I’ve got to continue to do the right thing.”

Besides his painting, Alvin is also using another long-time skill, music. Professionally trained, he performed with several widely known rhythm and blues bands. Today, he limits his singing to church, especially with the young people he tries to guide.

“I taught some of the kids vocal techniques I learned,” he explained. “Someone told me when I was on the streets that to make it, I would have to go back to something I loved. The only things I know are painting and music, so I’m using those. They’re what God gave me.”