IRC Stories: Darryl Gilyard

Darryl had worked as a bricklayer for the same employer for fourteen years, but when the owner had to close the company for health reasons Darryl found himself out of a job.

“I worked temp jobs after that, but I wasn’t making enough money even to keep a room in a rooming house,” he says. “That’s when I became homeless.”

With winter approaching Darryl found shelter at Mt. Zion Baptist Church as part of the WE! (Winter Emergency) program; he began coming to the IRC soon after it opened in January. “Coming here kept me calm when things were going bad for me,” he says. Over the next months things got better. Through the Congregational Nurse at the IRC Darryl’s high blood pressure was identified and treated, and the staff at the IRC helped him enroll in the U.S Department of Labor Senior Community Service Employment Program (SCSEP). Darryl now does community service work at the IRC and is living at Open Door Ministries in High Point where he is saving up to get a place of his own.

“It’s all good and it all takes time,” he says. “You just have to be patient.”