"What stands out most is not just that he survived hard things, but that he let those hard things shape him into someone who wants to help others..." 

I met Karlos on April 24, 2026, when he was delivering canned goods here at Gateway Woods that his employer had collected on his behalf. Karlos energetically said that this was just the beginning, as he planned to collect and deliver quarterly in the future. He said, “This is just a small way to give back to a home that gave me direction; without it, I would not have made it.”

Karlos’s story began in hard soil. He was born in Minneapolis, and before long, his life was marked by addiction and divorce, moving from place to place, and the kind of instability that can make a child grow up guarded and worn.

There were seasons in Memphis, Gary, and other homes where nothing felt settled. At one point, he and his siblings were even living in abandoned houses, and for a time, his older brother had to carry more of the weight of a parent than a sibling. That kind of beginning leaves a mark.

Then Gateway Woods came into his life, and that became the place where the ground started to change. Karlos said it changed his core mentality, gave him a work ethic, and helped him see life differently. He realized he wasn’t a waste of time and started applying himself to his education, earning good grades for the first time in his life. At Gateway, people cared enough to ask about his classes, his daily life, and his future, and he said that made all the difference because he no longer felt like just a number.

As an example to him were his houseparents, and he learned what a healthy family structure could look like, and that picture stayed with him. It gave him something better to reach for than the chaos he had known before.

Life took him through painful detours, but he kept going. It took a while for life to smooth out. After Gateway, he went through several other placements, including Schults-Lewis, the Grand Shelter, and Jake Allen homes, and some of those seasons were difficult and unstable. Still, he kept moving.

He’s faced setbacks that could have shut the door on a lesser man. While attending Ball State on a full-ride scholarship he had earned, Karlos got caught up with the wrong crowd and was arrested. But even there, his story did not end. Incarcerated, he completed his college coursework, proving that a bad season need not become a permanent harvest.

Along the way, Karlos took on a new kind of responsibility. Since 2019, he has been caring for his six nieces and nephews, and that steady commitment says a lot about the man he has become. He also stayed close to his mother, who has now been clean for almost 10 years, and he helps her by getting groceries every other weekend.

He learned repairs at a water park, started a pool company, and later found a strong place with Bish’s RV. He has now built a life in Coldwater, Michigan, and keeps putting one foot in front of the other when the road stays rough.

Now, Karlos is looking ahead with the same kind of purpose. He is starting a nonprofit to help foster kids learn to drive, because he knows firsthand how big that obstacle can be when a young person ages out and has no clear path forward. What stands out most is not just that he survived hard things, but that he let those hard things shape him into someone who wants to help others through the same ground he once walked.

His life is proof that even after early battles, a person can still grow strong, bear fruit, and become a blessing to others.

"Seek ye first the kingdom of God and all things shall be added unto you" Matthew 6:33