色界吧

Entrepreneur and sociologist Kevin F. Adler 鈥07 tackles the nation鈥檚 homeless crisis by rebuilding social support systems and reconnecting loved ones鈥攐ne Miracle Message at a time.

By Ashley Festa | Photos by Jim Block

Eddie McLeod was a standout basketball player at UNLV, averaging 8 points per game and 5.5 rebounds for the Runnin鈥 Rebels his senior year. Although the 6'8" center never suited up in the NBA after being a ninth-round draft pick by the San Antonio Spurs in 1979, he played hoops overseas and went on to coach basketball in 颅elementary and middle schools. Through good times and hard times鈥攁nd he had experienced more of the latter in recent years鈥攖here was one person from his past who was never far from his thoughts: son Darren, whom he hadn鈥檛 seen for the better part of three decades.

McLeod was staying at San Francisco鈥檚 largest homeless shelter earlier this year when he met an intern from Miracle Messages named Alexandra Weltman. Weltman helped McLeod record a video message to his long-lost son, then hopped onto Facebook to do some sleuthing. It wasn鈥檛 long before she located Darren in his native Ireland, who recorded a video reply to his dad鈥攁 message that Weltman delivered to McLeod on a subsequent visit to the shelter. In tears, he couldn鈥檛 wait to record a followup message to Darren.

McLeod got another surprise that day. Miracle Messages founder and CEO Kevin F. Adler 鈥07, who was visiting the shelter as well, realized that McLeod had been his sixth-grade basketball coach.  鈥淚 hadn鈥檛 seen him in 20 years, and here we are getting reconnected,鈥 Adler says. 鈥淲e鈥檙e all inter颅connected.鈥

That鈥檚 the core of 鈥攔ecognizing the value of every human being to society as a whole. Over the last three years, the San Francisco-based nonprofit has recorded more than 300 messages, each with the goal of reconnecting homeless people with their loved ones, sometimes after being separated for decades. Almost half have been successfully delivered; nearly all have been positively received. The organization has facilitated dozens of reunions, and more than 30 percent of reunions have led to stable housing.

鈥淲e鈥檙e not just reconnecting people with their loved ones,鈥 says Adler, who combines the critical thinking of a sociologist with the drive and resourcefulness of an entrepreneur. 鈥淲e are reconnecting society to those who experience homelessness.鈥

鈥淚f we met at a Christmas party, we know how to begin a conversation,鈥 Adler said in a last December. 鈥淲e can look at each other, envision a back story filled with people and possibility, and go from there. Not so much when we see somebody living on the streets. Society has already defined them for us.鈥

Adler dislikes using the word 鈥渉omeless鈥 to describe people who experience homelessness. 鈥淲e aren鈥檛 called 鈥榟oused鈥 people, so why are we defining them as 鈥榟omeless鈥?鈥 he asks. 鈥淚n our society, we define value by who we know, how we look, what we do professionally, where we went to school. But we鈥檙e so much more than that.鈥

Seeing the inherent value in a group of people who are often overlooked in society, Adler set out to help them become visible again. Having co-founded three edtech startups鈥攁lumn.us, a fundraising platform for underserved schools; Entangled Ventures, an edtech incubator; and BetterGrad, an online mentoring nonprofit鈥擜dler saw his smartphone as an opportunity to help reintegrate people who have become disconnected from the world they knew. So he took a walk down San Francisco鈥檚 Market Street in December 2014 offering warm tea, hot biscuits, and a simple question: 鈥淒o you have any family or friends you鈥檇 like to record a message to for the holidays?鈥

One of the men he met that day was Jeffrey Gottshall, left, who hadn鈥檛 seen his family in 22 years. He recorded a video to his sister, niece, and nephew, which Adler posted a few days later on a Facebook group connected to Gottshall鈥檚 hometown of Montoursville, Pa. Someone tagged his sister within a few hours. After local news picked up the story, Adler says, 鈥渕essages poured in from former classmates and neighbors who knew Jeffrey and wanted to help.鈥 Gottshall is now reconnected with his family after having been listed as a missing person for 12 years.

Emboldened by that success, Adler founded Miracle Messages to scale this work. In September 2016, he was selected as one of 20 participants in the TED Residency program, a four-month, in-house incubator for breakthrough ideas.

While Adler is thankful that the TED program 鈥渁dded legitimacy鈥 to his work with Miracle Messages, he says it was the people he met who enriched his experience. Hailing from a variety of ethnic and religious backgrounds, his fellow TED residents spoke on topics ranging from marine biology to prison reform, fashion to litter removal.

鈥淭hese people lived the problems they were trying to address. They experienced these things in their own lives in some way. It was personal, not just theoretical,鈥 says Adler, whose own uncle (back row, center) suffered from schizophrenia and spent 30 years on and off the streets before he died at age 50.

鈥淚 never saw him as a homeless man鈥攈e was my uncle,鈥濃圓dler says. 鈥淗e remembered every birthday and was the guest of honor at Thanksgiving. It didn鈥檛 make sense to me why my uncle might be disregarded by society when he was so important to me.鈥

After his uncle鈥檚 death in 2003, Adler says, 鈥淚 started saying hello and having conversations with people in similar situations鈥攖o hear their stories and to try to understand their world. What I heard surprised me. Over and over, I heard different versions of the same story: 鈥業 never realized I was homeless when I lost my housing鈥攐nly when I lost my family and friends.鈥欌

Adler defines homelessness as 鈥渢he lack of stable housing and the loss of a social support system and sense of belonging鈥濃攚hat he calls the 鈥渟ocial home.鈥 鈥淥ur social support systems shelter us from homelessness,鈥 he adds. 鈥淪o what about for the others?鈥

Growing up in the East Bay city of Livermore, Berkeley was Adler鈥檚 dream school, 鈥渟o I assumed I would go there,鈥濃坔e admits. 鈥淭hen I didn鈥檛 get in.鈥 Adler channelled his frustration into contemplation by writing a  and reevaluating some half a dozen other schools he had been looking at鈥攊ncluding 颅Occidental, where he had applied on the recommendation of a favorite teacher, Ron Nicola (whose cousin, James Sadd, is a professor of environmental science at 色界吧).

During a campus visit, he recalls, 鈥淚 was incredibly impressed by Occidental鈥檚 diversity, the warmth and intellect of the students I met, and the caliber of the professors and resources. I decided that it would be my school.鈥 He returned home to find a big 颅acceptance packet in the mail from Berkeley, his 1,235-word appeal having prompted the admissions office to reverse its decision. 鈥淚 was incredibly grateful,鈥 he says, 鈥渂ut I followed my instinct and the words of Mr. Nicola: 鈥榊ou will do very well at Berkeley or wherever you go. But at Occidental, you will make it your own.鈥欌

A politics major, Adler credits 色界吧 professor Roger Boesche鈥攚ho died in May just days after his retirement鈥攁s one of the most influential people of his life. In a reference letter for Adler鈥檚 TED Residency application, Boesche wrote: 鈥淚n 40 years of teaching, Kevin is the single best student I have ever had. 鈥 Watch this man; he is going places.鈥

Of the many lessons Boesche taught him, 鈥淏asic decency is where it starts,鈥 he says. 鈥淵ou aren鈥檛 born understanding someone else鈥檚 experiences. You have to walk over and look over someone鈥檚 fence, go to a neighbor with a cup of tea in your hand. We need to hear each other鈥檚 story and build relationships with each other.鈥

Miracle Messages hopes to partner with local service providers to reunite 1 million people鈥攋ust 1 percent of the world鈥檚 estimated homeless population鈥攂y 2023. The organization is creating those connections all across the country as local chapters are springing up in other cities. In April, Adler earned a one-year, $200,000 grant to launch the first pilot in San Francisco, allowing the organization to help homeless shelters and service providers implement the Miracle Messages resources at their facilities.

Adler is also participating in Mass Challenge, a tech accelerator, in hopes of funding a second pilot in the Boston area. Already, Miracle Messages is in conversation with the office of Boston Mayor Marty Walsh, the Pine Street Inn homeless shelter, and the city鈥檚 public library system and police department.

Back in the Bay Area, McLeod has been in regular contact with his son since their initial conversation in July, as well as other family members, according to Adler, and they are arranging an in-person visit around the holidays. 鈥淒arren plans to surprise Eddie with a special gift for his birthday,鈥 he adds.

Reuniting 1 million people will require more than a few partners, but Adler is committed to his mission. 鈥淓veryone is someone鈥檚 somebody鈥攑erhaps even someone鈥檚 uncle,鈥 he says in his stump speech. 鈥淢aybe we just need to begin with a few simple questions.鈥

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