Those who first discovered this site and the PTB project in 2009 already know Tim Edwards and followed his journey to sobriety. The deafening buzz we created after going live with his desperate need for the funds for treatment both shocked and humbled us.

Today, Tim is proudly 3 years sober, and he and the PTB team continue to help others off the street. We are now hoping to help John, a homeless father of 4 from Houston, Texas, who is struggling with addiction to powerful pain killers.

The first time round, our efforts drew overwhelming positive reaction. However, they also drew a fair share of negative criticism as well, and some people believed we were exploiting Tim for our own gain. As we continue our efforts to help homeless get off the street, we’d ike to take this opportunity to explain the goals of the PTB project for those who wish to understand.

Working with Tim and his friends on the street in 2009, we appealed to the plight of the homeless in a very unique way. Instead of launching a typical “helpthehomeless.com” type website that would blend in with the thousands of others like it, we decided to grab your attention by creating a site on homelessness and addiction—yes—but we humanized homelessness by focusing on a particular individual. In this manner, you got to know Tim. You’ve seen him in times of sadness and deep reflection and you’ve seen him in times of joy and humor. You saw the person behind the addiction—a warm, funny, sensitive, witty man who liked to tell jokes, but one who also desperately needed help. Suddenly homelessness had a face in Tim Edwards, a person that we could all relate to, a person that we really liked.

The PTB project aims to shed light on an otherwise ignored portion of society again through John. As Tim said and John reiterated in his interview, “Pride, dignity, values…all that goes out the window on the streets!” In reaching out to PTB of his own accord, John, like Tim, wants the help he so desperately needs and hopes that his actions will show other people with addictions that even if they’ve come from the bottom and it looks like there’s no way out, that change is possible.

Today we are putting a face to homelessness and addiction in John. We feel that in personalizing the plight of one homeless individual, society will view that as unique. Our efforts also show that many can be reached and redeemed to become functioning members of society once again.

Tim Edwards is living proof of this. As a man who once said, “How can you pull yourself up by the boot straps if you don’t have any?” PTB gave Tim his bootstraps, and he was able to pull himself out of his addiction

Now let’s give John his bootstraps.