Good Samaritan helps SoCal homeless man and his dog get back on their feet

By Carlos Granda

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    LOS ANGELES (KABC) — Living in Southern California, crossing paths with someone homeless can happen nearly every day, and while most people will just walk by, that’s not the case for one good Samaritan.

Shaun Donnelly and his dog Sandy were living on the street. He was actually inside a parking structure after losing his tent in a recent storm.

“It was miserable and cold. It was horrible. I felt like I was let down,” said Donnelly.

That’s when he met Thomas Greenberg.

“I got it in my head, OK I need to get these people under cover. It’s consistently 30 degrees at night. This is not a good way to live,” said Greenberg.

He started talking with Donnelly and heard his story. He said Donnelly wasn’t asking anyone for help, he was just trying to survive and wanted to stay with his beloved dog.

“I didn’t know that I was going to be like this, you don’t know you’re going to be homeless at all because you try to do the best you can to survive, but I crashed without even knowing I was going to get here,” said Donnelly. “I was a trucker and I didn’t know I was even going to be homeless.”

Greenberg who is an entertainment attorney was able to buy this RV formerly used as a production vehicle. Donnelly now has a warm place to stay.

“A gift from God actually…I feel like I’m in a coma, dreaming all this because this is too good to be true,” Donnelly said.

There is a GoFundMe page that was set up to help with the costs of the RV. Greenberg hopes this is an interim step to get Donnelly into permanent housing and a chance to reclaim his life.

“That’s the next step, helping him get settled somewhere with whatever resources he needs to start going back into the labor force, and then being self-sufficient,” said Greenberg.

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