Dad turns pain of son’s death into helping homeless

Worcester, Mass. (AP) — People pass by Sally’s Place at the Salvation Army, a drop-in day center at 640 Main St., all the time without giving it a second glance.

On Friday, Travis’ Bus, a brightly painted red bus, parked outside the shelter, stocked with coats, warm clothes, boots and toiletries to be distributed out the back door to the homeless, was getting plenty of attention.

That’s part of the mission — to raise awareness and relieve the suffering of homelessness — of the nonprofit that operates the bus, Support the Soupman, according to its founder, Peter Kelleher. It was the group’s first visit to Worcester.

More than a dozen people lined up behind what Kelleher calls a mobile walk-in closet Friday morning to get necessities to help tide them through the cold weather.

Natalia Ortiz came away smiling with a coat, brandnew boots, a sweater and a backpack filled with toiletries, socks, a hat and gloves.

“I’m happy right now because they gave me clothing and everything,” she said. “He’s nice. He helps people.”

Kelleher, of Bridgewater, used to run a doggy day care, did roofing and siding, and worked in sales until his life was shattered four years ago. His son, Travis, died of an opioid overdose at 33, after living on the streets of Bangor, Maine.

“I fight battles daily, too. I survived,” said Kelleher, who keeps the supportive company of Koji, his Australian shepherd support dog.

Kelleher started giving out soup from the back of his pickup truck in Brockton, he said, because “I had to find something to do to try to help other people.”

One day an elderly woman, shivering from the cold, came for some soup. “She could have been my mother,” Kelleher said. He gave her his hat and gloves.

“I saw this need, and it just snowballed from there,” said Kelleher.