PROVIDENCE, R.I. (WPRI) — Smithfield High School junior Tyler Guilfoyle believes homeless people deserve a second chance.
“Homeless or not, they deserve to feel like they belong in the community,” the 16-year-old said.
That’s why he’s taken it upon himself to grow a vegetable garden at Emmanuel House, a shelter owned and operated by the Diocese of Providence.
Guilfoyle has been volunteering at Emmanuel House since he joined the National Junior Honor Society in middle school.
Though it started as a way to accumulate service hours, Guilfoyle said it has since become a meaningful part of his life.
“I’ve realized that it’s not about getting the hours. It’s about doing more than that,” Guilfoyle said. “It’s about giving back the community.”
“I just feel like there’s not enough people giving back to the people who need it the most,” he added. “I just want to help with that.”
Guilfoyle has been hard at work installing an irrigation system to water the garden’s tomatoes.
“[Tomatoes] don’t like to have water on their leaves,” he explained. “So, by watering into the roots, [the plants] will grow better and we’ll get more tomatoes.”
Guilfoyle will never forget what he saw the first time he ever volunteered at Emmanuel House with his father and brother. It was Thanksgiving, and dozens of homeless Rhode Islanders were in desperate need of a warm meal and a roof over their heads.
“It was a shell shock,” Guilfoyle recalled. “I’d never experienced it before … It gave me a sense that some people aren’t as fortunate and they need to be treated the same and given the same opportunities as everyone else.”
“I just kept thinking, ‘Oh my God, this is what’s happening in our own state and something has to be done about it,'” he continued.
Guilfoyle said his goal is to not only cultivate the garden, but also restore some faith in humanity. He’s determined to spread the word about what’s happening at Emmanuel House and inspire others to pitch in as well.
“There’s people out there that need help and support,” he said. “I want to make [the garden] bigger and make it a whole community project.”
His father, Michael Guilfoyle, told NewsNation affiliate WPRI he’s impressed by his son’s accomplishments.
“It transitioned from a work requirement to something he really wanted to do,” Michael said of the garden. “He’s seen the value in the fact that the food that’s grown here is actually feeding people that need it.”
Tyler doesn’t plan on stopping anytime soon. In fact, he said he never wants to stop volunteering, whether it’s at Emmanuel House or elsewhere.
“I know I just want to keep volunteering and keep helping people down the line,” he said.