A Life ReStored

Every once in awhile I meet someone really special on an assignment. A few weeks ago I went to photograph a man named Mr. Lee Green who restores broken furniture at the Habitat for Humanity thrift store called ReStore. I found him in the back corner of the building in a caged in area that is his shop. He was soft spoken, warm and quick to laugh. He had a quiet pride about him that reminded me of my Papaw. I spent about 2 hours photographing him at work and talking with him about his various projects. I decided his story would make for a great audio slideshow so I came back the next day to record him.
Mr. Green, 56, has worked most of his life as a carpenter, but a stroke in 2006 left him unable to work. It wasn't long before he was homeless. He lived out of the Salvation Army for awhile before his life turned around. He started collecting a check which he saved and was able to move out into an apartment of his own, but this wasn't enough for Mr. Green. After the fallout from his stroke he felt down and out, like he wasn't any good to anybody anymore. Then he found out about an Athens Community Council on Aging program that created a job for Green at the ReStore working as a carpenter refurbishing broken donated furniture. It is his own little slice of heaven. He said he waited 36 years for a shop of his own and wouldn't trade it for nothing.
Watch the audio slideshow here. (for some reason this won't play on my firefox browser, but works on others)