Podcast Transcript: Norman Hicks

Norman Hicks has devoted his life to helping the homeless, in part because he used to be homeless himself. He talks to NCFY about the two adults that changed his life when he was a teenager.

Length: 3:47 | Size: 3.5 MB

NCFY: Welcome to Voices from the Field, a podcast series from the Family and Youth Services Bureau. 

Most Sundays, you can find Pastor Norman Hicks offering food and smiles to homeless youth and adults in Washington, D.C.’s Franklin Square Park. Hicks knows what an impact a kind deed can have on a homeless person’s life. As a 13-year-old runaway, Hicks lived in the woods for three days before Roy Maas and Anita Johnston, the founders of FYSB grantee organization The Bridge, took him in and changed his life.

NORMAN HICKS:  When I got to Child Protective Services, I was brought to this organization called The Bridge, where I was introduced to Roy Maas and Anita Johnston.  Now, you have to understand, that was back in 1976, ’77. In Texas. Me being a young black youth, being raised in a household that was full of anger and hate and pain, and then coming to somebody that’s even a different race and showing you love, made an impression to me. 

This happened in my seventh grade year when I ran away. I never finished completing the seventh grade. I never went to school in the eighth grade at all. Roy Maas and Anita continued to teach me [to] where I was able to get on the aptitude test for the ninth grade to keep me on the same page with the class I was supposed to graduate with. I was able to pass that test.  And that got me back in school in the ninth grade. 

NCFY: It wasn’t until later in life that Hicks realized what a permanent affect Roy and Anita had on him. In his current work, Hicks tries to honor their selflessness and support for those in need. 

HICKS:  I didn’t really catch, you know, understand my destiny of helping people until after my father died. Because me and my father had reconciled. So when I went back to bury my father, I was reminded of Anita and Roy. And I found Anita to thank her.  Because I wanted to tell her all she did, all the kids she helped. Because that organization went from helping twelve boys to helping over 65,000 kids.  And I wanted to tell her thank you because Roy had passed.  And I’m the one boy that made it because of what she showed me, the love she showed me. And from that connection, I caught the revelation, this is what I’m doing when I help the homeless. 

Roy and Anita invested in me, that I became somebody. And that’s all it takes, is somebody to invest in you. So if you’re on the streets and you’re trying to survive, the memory I want to leave in your heart, if I can’t give you shelter, I can show you some love, real love, in cooking and in fellowship. And give you some inspiration. Even in the park, they ask me why do I do what I do. And I tell them, “Because I was you. Somebody helped me restore my life.  I come to help you restore your life.” 

NCFY: To learn more about fostering permanent connections with young people, visit the National Clearinghouse on Families & Youth, online at ncfy.acf.hhs.gov.

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