Remembering Rickey Lynn Carroll

Dear  Jane Doe,

There is often one action that happens that becomes the catalyst for change.

As we enter this new year, we find ourselves reflecting on the very moment that changed everything for us. In 2017, a social worker found herself dealing with barriers that were hard to overcome. She was working with a man who was treated in their hospital. You see, this man was a veteran who had been prescribed to be on oxygen full time and was homeless. The social worker's mission was to find this man a home or a place to go so he could be released from the hospital's care. Despite her efforts, the barrier to this task was great, so great she reached out to us for help.

That one phone call in 2017 became the catalyst to finding a pathway to change. The phone calls from the social worker became more strained and intense as they could no longer fund his stay at the hospital. For weeks this social worker had tried to find a place for him to go but was unsuccessful. We also tried for several weeks to find a home for Rickey. It was a frustrating search. Rickey's barriers were great: gaps in employment history, financial historical barriers, lack of funding, the list went on.

That veteran was Rickey Carroll, and his story didn't just inspire Community of Hope, it birthed it. Every barrier we worked to overcome for Rickey revealed the desperate need for a better way, a sustainable solution, a place where our chronically homeless friends could truly find home and family.

On September 24, 2025, we received the call that every advocate dreads. Our dear salty sailor, Rickey Carroll, had passed away. He was talking with roommates at 3:00 am, got up to go to the restroom, and collapsed. While we're not certain, we suspect a heart attack took him home to be with the Lord.

A Life That Changed Everything

In 2017, Rickey's story became the catalyst that would birth Huntsville Community of Hope. As a homeless veteran requiring full time oxygen, Rickey faced seemingly insurmountable barriers to finding safe, stable housing. What followed was a journey that would not only transform his life but inspire an entire organization dedicated to serving the chronically homeless.

After weeks of searching, we found Rickey a home, though deplorable and in need of complete restoration. What happened next demonstrated the power of community: servant hearted volunteers transformed an unlivable house into a welcoming home. Rickey, along with fellow veterans Mario and Steve, moved in together, combining their resources to afford rent and utilities.

Though that housing situation proved challenging, it revealed a critical need for better long term solutions. The frustrations experienced while advocating for Rickey led to the founding of Huntsville Community of Hope, a 501(c)(3) organization established in 2019 with a vision to create a master planned residential community for the chronically homeless.

Finding Home and Family

By November 2019, Community of Hope raised funds to purchase Rickey a gently used RV at an affordable campground in Huntsville. The RV was lovingly cleaned, stocked, and furnished with everything needed to make it a true home. Over the next few years, COH missionals became Rickey's family, bringing meals, providing transportation, visiting for hours, helping with repairs, and serving as encouragers.

In late 2022, as Rickey's health declined due to cancer, congestive heart failure, and other conditions, his Community of Hope family walked alongside him through the transition to a nursing home. We helped him move, handled paperwork, and ensured he was surrounded by love and support until the very end.

When Strangers Become Family

I have been overwhelmed these past months thinking of our charge to love our neighbor and how deeply connected that can make us. How our story erases blood lines and replaces the traditional family as we are all brothers and sisters in Christ. How we became Rickey's family and how strong that bond was.

I took Sawyer (he is 10 now but was only 1.5 years old then) on my hip up to Huntsville Hospital to help this man find a home. Loving Rickey with my whole heart has been one of the greatest chapters of my life. I am different today because I decided to give it my all, to dig in and to commit to loving him from start to finish. That path is much different than serving just to serve. It's committing to loving someone knowing the commitment that comes with that, which includes losing them.

Sometimes you selfishly go into serving thinking you will make an impact on others, but what happens is others make an impact on you. An absolute stranger who became a father to me and Karen. In fact, Rickey is the reason that Karen and I met. He was grandfather to my boys. To know that you can love another human being so strongly allows my gratitude and love for our Father in Heaven to grow deeper and deeper.

The Power of End of Life Documents

Community of Hope had worked with Rickey on "End of Life Documents" years earlier. When one of our friends passes away, we are often turned away from collecting their things, finding out any information about their remains, or even having those released to us because we are not next of kin. Those end of life documents allow our friends from the streets to designate chosen family as next of kin should they wish to do so.

In Rickey's case, those documents were in place. He had become separated from his biological family, and we were able to step into that role. While at the time they were just documents to be signed, the weight of that responsibility was not something we took lightly. Karen was notified upon his passing. We were able to pick up his personal items from the nursing home.

We scheduled time and gently, lovingly, and longingly went through his items. These items were placed in garbage bags, which in itself was a heartbreaking realization. There was no estate sale from a lifetime of living in a home. There were just a few bags of clothing, glasses, mail, a deck of cards, a few pictures of his Community of Hope family with Rickey, his wallet, and that was it. The weight of picking up Rickey's remains carried an emotion we weren't prepared for. Rickey had become our dad through loving someone deeply and wholly.

Finding Rickey's Family

We had limited information about Rickey's biological family, but we were determined to find them. Through a random Facebook post that received countless shares, we found Rickey's daughter! We were able to share pictures that we have collected over the years, many of them are featured here in this newsletter.

The conversations with Rickey's daughter were so moving. It was like she was living vicariously through both myself and Karen. My boys, Finley and Sawyer, were like grandchildren to Rickey. Rickey's daughter also has children and was moved by looking at pictures of my kids with him. Through our conversations, you could feel the longing for a moment with her dad. It was an absolute honor and yet a heartbreak all at the same time, knowing that earthly time had passed to be in deeper relationship.

We placed all the items we wanted his family to go through in a separate bag and worked through getting those items to them, a final act of love bridging two families who both loved the same remarkable man.

Our Fire Burns Brighter

Losing Rickey has only strengthened our resolve and deepened our commitment to become the forged family that our friends desperately need. His passing reminds us why we started this journey in the first place, why every barrier overcome and every frustration endured is worth it. Rickey's story is not just our beginning, it is our continuing call to action.

We refuse to standby while our friends slip through the cracks because adequate housing solutions don't exist. We refuse to accept that the chronically homeless must continue to face impossible barriers alone. Rickey showed us what's possible when a community wraps around someone with love, dignity, and unwavering support. He proved that transformation happens when strangers become family.

Our fight continues with renewed passion. Our fire burns brighter than ever to bring Community of Hope to fruition. We are more determined than ever to create that master planned village where our friends will find not just shelter, but home. Not just services, but family. Not just survival, but dignity and hope.

Rickey was our beginning, and he remains our why. For every friend still waiting on the streets. For every social worker making desperate phone calls. For everyone who refuses to give up.

We desire to become the forged family our friends deserve. And we will never stop fighting to fill the gap in permanent supportive housing for our friends that call the streets home.

With grateful and grieving hearts,

The Community of Hope Team

(Words by Mandy Kilgore, Chief Goodness Officer)