For 30 years, Gerard Thomas was among the 70,000 American veterans sleeping on the streets every night.

As a paranoid schizophrenic he was in and out of prison and mental institutions for decades. When out of trouble, he slept on park benches, in doorways or in the woods.

These days, the 62-year-old devotes his life to helping homeless veterans.

He now has an apartment, a bike, a desk and a three-computer workstation. He works as a certified peer counselor to homeless vets and mental-health patients.

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