non profit entrepreneur

For years, a 64-year-old Marine veteran has been living on the streets of Maine. Now, thanks to Boothbay V.E.T.S., John Thorn has a place to sleep.Ed Harmon’s Boothbay Veterans Emergency Temporary Shelter organization has a goal — to get homeless veterans off the ground and into beds. “Three years ago, when we started this, the number was 101 that we knew that we’re on the ground sleeping. Now it’s around 288. They’re back under a bridge. They’re on somebody’s car or they’re in somebody’s garage. And they don’t know that they’re trying to get out of the cold, but they’re on the ground freezing,” Harmon said.Harmon’s organization builds trailers that offer veterans a warm place to sleep. He says if someone’s willing to plug in the trailer, the non-profit will bring it out. And once a person is able to get back on their feet, Harmon says they clean up the trailer, refurbish it and put them back out.For Thorn, having a place to sleep means a lot: “Here, I have a bed, I have safety. I know it’s right here, right in front of my face, and it’s still hard to believe, I can’t — Like here, it’s another step, hopefully. Another step somewhere.”Maine’s Total Coverage Chief Photographer Sean Guiggey has the full story in the video player above.