CRESTVIEW — Deacon Al Flowers Jr. has one major mission: helping the poor.
He helps people file paperwork to receive Social Security benefits and food stamps; travels with them to doctor's appointments; provides haircuts; and buys them food and toiletries.
Filing for Social Security takes time, with 30 to 120 days for initial application — and even longer when documentation or decision appeals are required.
Doug Frederick, who currently lives with him, knows about that involved process firsthand — and how Flowers was a godsend.
"He has been helpful," Frederick said. "I already had my (paperwork) in the making. I really needed help with getting the things I need to survive and get a place to stay."
Charles Williams, who rents a room and gets a monthly haircut from Flowers, said he also appreciates the assistance.
For Flowers — who lets many people in need use his extra shower, shave and get clothes — the joy comes from caring for people in need.
"There's nothing like seeing a freshly clean smile," he said.
Flowers' outreach efforts began shortly after he moved back to Florida from Chicago. He served six years as a deacon at Harvest Vineyard Ministries, a Crestview rehabilitation program and nonprofit. As dorm supervisor and office worker, he scheduled fundraisers and took residents to doctor's appointments, rehab and family visits.
Since leaving Harvest Vineyard in 2010, he became a street evangelist, preaching and helping the area's homeless.
"I'd pray with them and assist them in any kind of way that I could, and that's what led me into finding out how they had no one to assist them and take them to doctor appointments, and … some of them were illiterate," Flowers said.
That was his cue to step in.
"I believe that's my calling: to assist the homeless and assist the indigent," Flowers said.
"I really feel like that's what God has installed in me."
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NEED HELP?
Contact Al Flowers, alflowers14@yahoo.com or 398-7215, for help filing paperwork for Social Security and food stamps, or other assistance.
Flowers has been working and praying with veterans through the Wounded Warrior Foundation in Northwest Florida since 2013.
He is also "open to helping anyone, regardless of their income. (They don't) need to be indigent. Homeless people, or anyone that has family members that require prayer, or that is not familiar with the system, I am able to educate them on how they need to go, to educate them on their benefits," he said.
This article originally appeared on Crestview News Bulletin: Crestview man: Helping needy residents? 'That's my calling'