Sam

Sam is a local artist that has spent the majority of the past 10 years homeless on the streets of Dallas. In the process of moving our office this past summer I repeatedly drove by Sam's little business that he had built into a dark enclave of an abandoned building. I noticed the art, it was good, so later when I was putting together a campaign to create awareness for our new building by promoting local artist, I thought of Sam. What I didn't know was that Sam was about to move to the national stage. MTV had produced a new show named the "The Buried Life" in which a group of young men traveled the country completing their own bucket list. They would complete the karma circle by finding someone in each community that wanted to "do" something before they died. Enter Sam...

I, like the many others that had passed Sam on the streets didn't know that Sam had a son that he hadn't met for 17 years. The show was able to find Sam's son and arrange their introduction. We were lucky enough to host the premiere of that show at our office with Sam and his son Laban as our special guests. We invited city leaders, friends and family. It was a great night. A night where Sam never stopped smiling while the rest of us never stopped crying. I have little doubt that Sam will soon return to his drawing and painting. If you see him, shake his hand and thank him for his story. Watch the clip of Sam's and Laban's first meeting: Watch Sam