Homeless man lands job and place to live after town rallies behind him

MEDWAY, Mass. - A local community is pulling out all the stops to rally behind a homeless man after a good Samaritan paved the way.

Jimmy Daniel has been living in the woods for the past three years in a tent. Now, he has a place to live and a job thanks to complete strangers and one man who started it all.

Tim Murdock was making a delivery when he spotted Daniel sitting on the side of the road with a sign and his puppy. Wanting to help out in any way, Murdock gave him a $20 Stop & Shop gift card and posted his encounter on "The Friends of Medway" Facebook page.

"He stood up in tears and [said] 'thank you so much' and immediately got off the corner and went to Stop & Shop to get food," Murdock told Boston 25's Chris Flanagan. "It felt amazing."

Murdock created a Go Fund Me page for Daniel as well, titling it "Let's Change a Life."

And that is exactly what happened.

After Murdock's Facebook post caught steam, the response from the community of Medway has been fast and furious. Strangers have donated food, clothes, bikes, a cellphone and even vaccinations for Daniel's puppy.

Someone also donated a trailer.

Daniel is now living in the trailer, which is sitting in a woman's yard. Katherine Hanrahan-Tingley said she was so moved after reading about Daniel on the Facebook page that she offered to let him park the trailer on her property for free.

"It was a lot different, a lot quieter, I didn't get the train waking me up," said Daniel about his new living situation. "I was comfortable, overwhelmed, still I woke up and realized, wow I'm in a trailer I'm not in a tent anymore."

Along with a place to live and food to eat, a local car dealership offered Daniel a job that he starts on Tuesday.

"There's so much stuff I'm constantly going through," said Daniel. "It's really overwhelming but really amazing at the same time."

The town of Medway said they are providing Daniel with outreach services to help him get back on his feet, but the camper must be off the property by December 1 because of a town ordinance violation.

Cox Media Group