The Splash
ON THAT NOTE
By Tyler Wilson Splash Correspondent
How it began – and how it changed the lives of its founders For more than 10 years, Blessings Under the Bridge has helped many of Spokane’s homeless with food, fellowship and support. How it began – and how it changed the lives of its founders Jessica and Mike Kovac – is almost too dramatic to be true. “You can’t make this stuff up,” Jessica said. “It’s a pretty good story, I have to admit.” The beginning of that journey is chronicled in Jessica’s new book, “A Blessing Under the Bridge.” Back in 2007, the Kovacs, who are Liberty Lake residents, were struggling to save their marriage. Jessica, then a server at Hay J’s Bistro, was looking for a more purposeful path. “I was just at a point where I was feeling completely helpless in my own life and God led me to this place I never thought possible,” Kovac said. So she ventured into downtown Spokane, giving out brown bag meals and talking with the area homeless. At first, Mike didn’t like the idea, but Jessica eventually convinced him to take up the cause with an open mind.
Homer’s journey after meeting Jessica and Mike became an even more compelling story of redemption and reconciliation. After working to get off the streets, Homer wanted to find the family he left behind 28 years before. “In 2010, when I found this family, they thought he was dead for 17 years,” Jessica said. Homer spoke fondly of his “baby girl,” a daughter he left when she was just 8 years old. Jessica found her and the family in Jacksonville, Florida. She was living with Cystic Fibrosis, a progressive genetic disease that causes persistent lung infections. The disorder is incurable, requires daily care, and those with it only live on average to their mid-tolate-30s. Homer’s daughter made a poignant wish - to reconnect with a sober father. Getting there proved to be challenging, as the book documents, but ultimately Homer boarded a plane to Florida and stayed there. “They spent her last five years together, she lived way longer than she was supposed to,” Jessica said. In his daughter’s final two years, after his ex-wife passed away, Homer took care of her completely, even in his own weakened state. “He’s on oxygen and he’s taking care of her,” Jessica said. “To go back
Homer himself died at 67, just a few months after his daughter passed. “I’m so honored to have even known him,” Jessica said. “How many people judge the homeless and have no clue how one person can change your life?” she continued. “If we all stopped judging and assuming, the world could be a better place.” The story in Jessica’s book ends around 2010, when Homer first reconnected with his daughter. She said his journey to her is the “Blessing Under the Bridge.” The reach of Jessica and Mike’s cause is intrinsically tied to Homer’s story and the influence on the Kovacs.. “Look at the legacy he left,” Jessica said. “Because of his story, he’s saved thousands of lives. The story is why people give and donate. Homer was such a huge part of our lives, whoever reads this book or hears this story, I hope will look at the man on the corner a little differently.” Jessica considers the book to be a lifelong dream, though she initially had little knowledge of the process. “I always had a hook for writing, but I didn’t learn how to write until this book,” shes said. “I’m talking grammar, punctuation, but I always knew I wanted to tell a story.” As far as the distribution of the book goes, Jessica says things are a bit on hold now as bigger
“I was praying this would open my husband’s heart and eyes,” Jessica said. “And that first day he met Homer.”
Can a marriage filled with adultery, attempted suicide, alcohol abuse, and deceit, be redeemed, restored and reborn by serving the homeless? This is the story of Mike and Jessica Kovac’s brave steps into the world of those whose homes don’t have walls. Their lives entwined with one drifter’s, Homer Hill, and were healed.
A Blessing Under The Bridge One woman’s calling, One man’s struggles, Another man’s hope.
JessicA KovAc
Jessica Kovac tells the story of establishing a dedicated cause to feed and support the homeless in Spokane in her new book “A Blessing Under the Bridge.” Contributed image opportunities may lay ahead. Those interested in purchasing a copy can go to the nonprofit’s website at www. butb.org. “I was planning to proceed with self-publishing but I’ve pushed the pause button on the advice of film and literary agents who would like to get broader distribution for our story,” Jessica said. “We’re going to print smaller quantities right now just for family and friends and our immediate networks, in case there’s interest from major publishing houses and studios. We’ll know in a few months the right next step for the book, but for now we’re waiting on which irons in the fire heat up and we’re just happy to have a few irons in play.” The story of Blessings Under the Bridge has already reached many. The Kovacs and the nonprofit have been featured on “The Rachael Ray Show,” cover of the SpokesmanReview and in People Magazine. Still, the book is a more personal dive into her life and her once-troubled marriage. “I went through so many struggles that nobody knew about,” Jessica said. “We know many people who have gone through this and nobody talks about it. We’re just an average Joe and Jane couple who went through all this.”
Homer Hill was a 58-year-old homeless man living under the freeway bridge. Jessica said her husband formed an immediate connection with him.
“We’re going on 30 years of marriage, and our marriage was saved because of this,” she said. “We didn’t save Homer, he saved us.”
“My husband was like Homer just 30 years from now,” Jessica said. “He could have easily gone down the same path.” Jessica said their relationship became like a father and son. Homer and Mike’s connection eventually came to represent the ultimate message of Blessings Under the Bridge, now one of the region’s most recognized nonprofit efforts. “It was never about saving them or sobering them up,” Jessica said. “We all have our own stuff, and we deal with things differently. Some are under the bridge, some are taking pills or drinking too much. These are
I drive the downtown streets of Spokane, searching. For the hungry. God prompts me down an alley to the first person, a man carrying a garbage bag. I roll down the window and say, “Are you hungry?” He looks right into my eyes, and with sadness says, “Yes!” His eyes fill with tears as I hand him a brown bag. I watch with doubt, wondering if he will really eat it. I hear the voices in my head: from my church, friends, family, and my husband, Mike. “They’re not really hungry, they’re free-loaders and addicts.” Doubt creeps in, but God’s voice is louder. I keep watching. The man walks to a dumpster. Is he going to throw it away? He uses the dumpster as support and slides to the ground. The sack is opened like a wrapped gift, and he shovels the food into his mouth. With a laugh, I let out the breath I’d been holding. Relief and joy replace doubt. That man was the pebble that created the ripple effect, as this journey began, ten years ago. I learned everything important I know, from the homeless whom I now call my friends, and in Homer’s case, family. The increase did not start until years later, after Homer’s story. This is Homer’s story, and mine.
JessicA KovAc
For more than 10 years, Blessings Under the Bridge has helped many of Spokane’s homeless with food, fellowship and support.
amazing people who have lost their way.”
Bind and trim as 6 X 9 / Gloss Laminate
A Blessing Under The Bridge
New book chronicles birth of Blessings Under the Bridge
and face your family after 28 years of taking off and leaving. He did more than an average father could do. He redeemed himself in every way.”
JANUARY 2018 • 39
Homer Hill (center) was living under a freeway bridge in downtown Spokane when Liberty Lake residents Mike and Jessica Kovac met him as part of a homeless outreach effort in 2007 that would eventually become the nonprofit Blessings Under the Bridge. Contributed photo
“A Blessing Under The Bridge: One Woman’s Calling, One Man’s Struggles, Another Man’s Hope” is now available. For more information on the book, the Blessings Under the Bridge nonprofit and more detailed stories of the Kovac’s work and their connection with Homer Hill, visit www. BUTB.org
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