GLADSTONE, Mo. — In 2023, Cody Lemmer was a client at A Turning Point KC.
"It was very cold out and I had no food and a gentleman I was staying in a hotel with told me they'd give me food so I came up here," Lemmer said.
The nonprofit is located in the Northland, providing basic needs, as well as education to equip its clients for self sufficiency.
"We give out hundreds of pounds of clothing and food each week," A Turning Point KC Executive Director, Rikki Fulmer said. "But what's most important is not what we give, but how we give it and we are working to honor dignity and worth every step of the way."
"All I was doing was just surviving," Lemmer said. "But over that time, they showed me love and compassion and things I said made me start believing in myself."
Lemmer says it took time.
"I spent 30 years with drug addiction, 20 years in and out of jails, that means I was running for a long time," he said. "Before 2013, I believed that nobody in this world cared about me so I didn't care about this world, but a family and a church in Springfield opened their arms and their doors and that was the point that started to changed my life and if it wasn't for them, I wouldn't of believed in this place."
Now, Lemmer is 16 months sober.
"When I started this sobriety track, it was not in my head to stay sober. I had means to get back on my feet so I could keep running," Lemmer said. "But because I decided to get sober and people were there to show me love, it made me believe that I could do this and then everything started falling into place."
The nonprofit has helped roughly 64,000 people this year alone.
"Between the pause in SNAP benefits and the rise in the cost in everything, our pivot from the day shelter closing to going to outreach, all of our numbers shifted. It's actually less than we served last year by a little bit, but all of our programs have grown in their capacity," Fulmer said.
Part of the nonprofit's mission is 'Re-imagining Your Potential.'
"We don't just give them the things, we like to use those things as seeds of worth, that help people imagine what they can do when they don't have to worry about being hungry or they don't have to worry about feeding their kids healthy food," Fulmer said. "We work really hard to use that as a springboard as to what more is possible when that's not on the forefront of their brain."
And for Lemmer, that potential has landed him a job at A Turning Point KC.
"I will do just as the Turning Point did for me," Lemmer said. "I will put in as much work and more if that person wants to put in the work."
Lemmer also mentors others who were in his shoes, like Joshua Livingston.
"He's not lying whenever he said that he wants to continue to help people, he's helped me so much, he's like my brother," Livingston said. "We're there for each other and I need that in my life because everything else from the past, is gone."
There was a big celebration for Livingston when he celebrated 100 days sober.
"100 days is a big large number to me, more so because this time I want it," Livingston said.
For Lemmer, he hopes to continue what he's learned at the nonprofit and pour it into others.
"If you live my old life or you live the life I live the life I have now or you don't even know about either life, just believe in each other and love each other," Lemmer said. "That's all we need in this world is love each other and give people chances."
A Turning Point KC has 'You Matter' cards. The goal is to pass the cards out to people who may need help. It has the case managers phone numbers on one side.
For those who don't have a phone, on the back side, it shares that every Sunday at 2 p.m. at the Northcross United Methodist Church, the nonprofit team will be there where people can get a hot meal and engage with staff.
The location is 1321 NE Vivion Rd., Kansas City, Missouri, 64118.
