Gene

"What a time yesterday at MUSIC HOUR…. God answered my prayer and yesterday at REVIVE CENTER you witnessed me restored to my full Social Health. I'm thankful to God for all things, events, and relationships.”

Gene is not ex-prison, ex-drugs, or ex-alcohol.  He is an accomplished piano bar musician of 50 years who entertained celebrities and politicians alike at the Abraham Lincoln Hotel in Springfield, IL.  When divorce, the loss of his job and the loss of his life savings left him homeless, Gene found himself sitting on a milk crate in a dark alley near Madison and Kedzie. With snowflakes falling on his face, he looked up at the sky and cried “God please help me.” Gene spent the next seven years patiently praying and waiting until he obtained housing, regained his mental health and began volunteering at a church soup kitchen.

Today, Gene is a ReVive community member and regular contributor to it's Engagement Center which serves people experiencing homelessness. “I bring my music to Revive because I know it spreads Healing energy to Guests and Staff...Everyone in my listening range can benefit from their burdens being soothed by my piano work.” Evidence of this affect was observed recently when Gene and Veronica, a medical school student and accomplished flautist, played an eclectic mix of unrehearsed renditions of Celine Dion’s My Heart Will Go On, Edelweiss, Oh Danny Boy and Amazing Grace, all to the delight of ReVive community members.

While Gene limits his social interactions to ReVive and Church, he finds those interactions invaluable. “What a time yesterday at MUSIC HOUR…. God answered my prayer and yesterday at REVIVE CENTER you witnessed me restored to my full Social Health. I'm thankful to God for all things, events, and relationships.”

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