NILES — With a desire to get outside for some fresh air, Jerry Seals, of Buchanan, started walking along the Riverfront Trail. It was during his walks when he started noticing homeless people along his route.

Rather than passing the less fortunate by and continuing on his way, Seals started talking with those who looked like they needed help. What he found was many of them did.

“Initially, what I would do was stop and pray with them and occasionally as the need arose, I would get them a meal,” Seals said. “After I did that for a while, I noticed that there were other things that they needed.”

To meet some of those needs, Seals formed the Niles Area Homeless Program/Ministry about a year ago, with the aim to help those he encountered in the park. As he began his bi-weekly treks along the trail, he started bringing information pamphlets, listing area charities that supply basic needs like food. With help from the Niles Salvation Army and the Pokagon United Methodist Church, he also has helped to distribute a handful of sleeper jackets — a dense coat that contains pullout fabric that transforms the winter wear into a sleeping bag.

Upon request, Seals said he will pray with a homeless person he talks to or buy them a meal from a fast food restaurant.

“As word got out that I was doing this, other organizations and individuals stepped up,” Seals said. “So it has become not a Jerry thing, but a community support thing, along with what I do as the so-called leader.”

Cassopolis’ Shari Bradke serves the Pokagon United Methodist Church’s Youth Adventure program in Dowagiac. Through her work, she has helped to lead efforts to raise money for sleeper coats purchased from a Detroit-based company called the Empowerment Plan.

“I researched the Empowerment Plan company and I was really impressed with what they do and I felt there was need here,” Bradke said.

Through spaghetti dinners and fundraisers, church youth from kindergarten to ninth grade have helped to raise money for the coats, which cost about $100 each. After the jackets are purchased, Bradke said they are donated to a homeless shelter in South Bend and to the Niles Salvation Army, where Seals is a volunteer. Last year, Bradke said they were able to raise about $1,000 for the purchase of 10 sleeper jackets.

Tim Douglas, the Niles Salvation Army’s coordinator of volunteer services, heard about Seals’ efforts to help others and started giving him some of the sleeper jackets to distribute. Seals said he gives the coats out sparingly and has only distributed about six through his ministry.

When Bradke heard that Seals was furthering her church’s efforts to distribute the sleeper coats, she was excited, she said.

“I just thought it was cool and we are supportive of it,” Bradke said. “When we send them to the shelter in South Bend, we don’t know what is happening. This way we get to hear about [how they are being used locally].”

Seals has always made it his mission to better his community. Seals is an Air Force veteran who served his country in the 1960s. In Buchanan, he worked for 20 years for Clark Equipment Company before moving to Chicago and working as a manufacturer’s sales representative. When he was not at work, Seals spent his spare time volunteering at Willow Creek Church in South Barrington, Illinois, where he served the care center and food pantry for about six and a half years.

Seals is now retired, but continues to work for his community. In addition to working for the Niles Salvation Army, he also serves at RedBud Area Ministries in Buchanan.

Seals continues to visit the Riverfront Park walking trail about twice a week. He said on average he sees between five to 10 people who may need help. Sometimes it is the same people and other times he sees new faces in the mix. Occasionally on these walks, Seals said he sees no one in need of help.

Seals said his motivation for the project was his heart.

“I have been a believer that service to humanity is the best work in life,” Seals said.

For the most part, Seals said what seems most appreciated about his work is the fact that he acknowledges those without a place to call home.

“I am finding that what they need more than anything is someone to spend time with them and show them a little love,” Seals said. “I sometimes believe that spending time with them and showing people that they care and have not been forgotten means more than a meal.”

In the months to come, Seals is hoping to continue to expand his ministry’s efforts into Buchanan. He thanked the Niles Salvation Army and Pokagon United Methodist Church for helping him to turn the ministry into a community effort.