MOBILE, Alabama - Eight years ago, James Gardner's wife, Margaret, named their new puppy "Seven," and said it was "God's favorite number" and meant "completion."

The pit bull/chow mix was very special to Margaret, and since her abrupt death in 2013, James said Seven and his mother, "Mama," have been all the family he's had. For the last 16 years, the 51-year-old has lived in a tent at a homeless encampment just north of downtown Mobile.

And about a week ago, Gardner nearly lost Seven after an accident left the dog with severe injuries to his chest and eye.

But thanks to a new service organization known as Delta Dogs, Gardner had someone to call when Seven lay dying in the 17-degree woods.

Veterinarian Dr. Jennifer Eiland and her staff at Ark Animal Clinic and Rehabilitation Center in west Mobile, immediately operated on Seven. And after a few days of convalescence, on Friday, Eiland and others with Delta Dogs followed the dog's wagging tail right back to the shelter he was born in.

"I didn't expect people to care that much about the woods people, or their animals," James Gardner said, outside the home he built for his family. "But they do.

"God has his people out there caring about not only us, but the animals, too."

It was quite a reunion, on a day far warmer than the one when Seven was injured. The still-recuperating dog scampered at Gardner's feet alongside his mother and brother, Bruiser, who belongs to someone else living in the tent city.

"They're more closer to me than ever, than people have been," said Gardner, who shares a bed with his animals. "They're my family.

"They're man's best friend."

Gardner, who currently does work as a plumber, said the first thing he would do now that the family had been reunited was to take Seven for a walk down the "hobo highway," a favorite stretch that runs near the GM&O building in the north corner of downtown.

Gardner said 16 years ago he was called to move to the woods.

"God led me to this spot," he said. "My life is perfectly content, through everything I do, everything I eat, everything I wear.

"Life is what you make it out to be, you know."

According to Jennifer Greene, co-founder of Delta Dogs - which is a partner project of Greene's Delta Bike Project and Ark Animal Clinic - community response to help fund Seven's recover was "amazing."

In less than 24 hours, after using social media to send out a call for support, more than $400 was raised to pay for medical expenses. In all, about $500 was donated to help heal Seven, she said.

"People are so generous about what we do," said Greene, who helped start Delta Dogs in July. "Our supporters are spectacular."

Together she, Eiland and Delta Bike Project organizers such as Jeff DeQuattro and Thomas Carpenter have helped facilitate adoptions of injured animals and gone into the field several times to spay, neuter and vaccinate companions of those among the homeless in Mobile.

The DBP, located on Warren Street near Wintzell's Oyster House downtown, has its own projects helping the homeless, as well.

Outreach by Delta Dogs is a result of empathy on the part of those involved, Greene said. Especially considering some of the homeless, who take "good care" of their pets, can't spend time in shelters because of them.

"What would you do if you lost your home and every place that's available here doesn't allow pets?" she said, standing outside the encampment near downtown. "Would you move out here to avoid giving up your dog?

"I might."

Seven's return to Gardner is only the first part of a weekend of outreach for the Delta Dogs crew. On Saturday afternoon, the group will make its first foray into a new community: Trinity Gardens, a neighborhood just south of Prichard.

There, around 1 p.m., Eiland and others will offer veterinary services for Trinity Gardens residents, at the Trinity Family Ministries, at 2467 Victory Ave., near the intersection of Interstate 65 and U.S. 45.

According to Eiland and Greene, the need exposed by service projects such as that could lead to grants in support of what they call the "triangle of love," which includes education, healthcare and spaying and neutering.

For more information about the Trinity Gardens service project, call Ark Animal Clinic between 8 a.m. and 12 p.m. Saturday at (251) 342-2956. To make donations to, or find out more about, Delta Dogs, visit DeltaDogsMobile.org.

This post was updated to include a video and to add Gardner's work information.