BIG RAPIDS, Mich. — This is the story of a man and his dog currently living in Big Rapids. They have no home and are living in a tent, but the two have not gone unnoticed. Turns out, he’s a talented, self-taught painter. Now, a new friend is hoping to help him get back on his feet.
“It helps with being homeless. It just allows you to forget all the problems that you have,” said Shannon Galley as he started a new painting, telling 13 ON YOUR SIDE that he has been living unhoused since about the age of 17 and has been traveling the country by hitchhiking.
“I try to think of it as an extended camping trip. It keeps you from getting depressed,” said Galley.
He said he struggled in school because of attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) and dyslexia.
Galley explained, “I never really learned how to read and write because the teachers would get frustrated and just pass me through.”
He’s now 57 years old with health issues that keep him from working like seizures, arthritis and carpal tunnel.
“I basically can’t feel my fingers. It’s a pain in the butt. I was working this past summer at a sawmill but when your hands go so numb you can’t feel the wood that you’re picking up, it’s time to quit,” said Galley, leaving him with a lot more time on his hands.
He said, “Most of the day, I’m thinking about a place to keep warm…staying in a one-man tent. It’s a summer tent. It doesn’t hold heat. I have about four or five blankets.”
Galley did not want us to see exactly where his tent is currently located. He said law enforcement might force him to leave.
“His paint caught my eye and then the dog caught my eye, and I was like, ‘oh, that’s a cute little dog right there,’” said Big Rapids resident, Elle Willette, who first saw Galley while she was out doing some Christmas shopping, and she quickly decided to grab some things for Galley and his dog, Duke.
“Got some dog food, some water, hand warmers, just some small, essential snacks or whatever,” said Willette.
Soon, the two got to talking about his artwork.
Willette asked Galley, “Well, how’d you learn?’ And he said, ‘I taught myself watching Bob Ross videos on YouTube,’ and I’m like, you’re kidding me.”
“Yeah, he’s good,” Galley said, smiling, referring to the renowned painter.
After buying a couple of his paintings, Willette said she felt compelled to do more and turned to social media for help.
She talked about the night, “I posted it. I went to bed, woke up the next day and there were hundreds of people liking and commenting on it.”
Ultimately, she created a GoFundMe account to help raise money for a new, insulated tent for Galley and Duke.
Willette said that her “goal is to get him the resources that he needs to get back on his feet and at least have someplace to call home at the end of the day,” adding that, “I have literally lost sleep over this, thinking of him out there when it’s 15 degrees out. Like, it really does, it breaks my heart.”
“That’s all I want, is a home for me and him,” said Galley as he rubbed Duke’s head.
“I’ve thought about this a million times in the last few days, why do we do nice things for other people?” Willette asked herself the question, and then answered, saying, “I think it’s that we’re all just trying to feel connected to each other and especially around the holidays when it’s so easy to feel like you’re being ignored, and people are looking past you – that it was a really nice way for the community to remember that we’re all in this together. We’re not alone.”
Willette is now auctioning off the completed painting you see Galley working on in the video from this story to help with her efforts to get him that new tent and help him get back on his feet. Click here to check out that auction.
Special thanks to the Country Inn & Suites in Big Rapids for letting us use the lobby for the interview.
►Make it easy to keep up to date with more stories like this. Download the 13 ON YOUR SIDE app now.
Have a news tip? Email news@13onyourside.com, visit our Facebook page or Twitter. Subscribe to our YouTube channel.
Watch 13 ON YOUR SIDE for free on Roku, Amazon Fire TV Stick, and on your phone.