![\"Nathaniel](\"http:\/\/webapp2.wright.edu\/web1\/newsroom\/files\/2015\/07\/Nate-Stewart-15855_058-2.jpg\")
<\/a>Wright State alumnus Nathaniel Stewart ’13 and his nonprofit organization The NuLief Group are renovating vacant homes to provide housing for the homeless in Columbus. (Photos by Will Jones)<\/p><\/div>\n
On this particular day, Stewart has come from the open shelter at St. John\u2019s Evangelical Protestant Church in downtown Columbus. People there were beginning to line up to claim a bed for the evening. There are as many as 4,000 homeless people in the greater Columbus area.<\/p>\n
\u201cThe shelter is a vital part of the community because we don\u2019t have much housing available for the homeless,\u201d Stewart said. \u201cA lot of these individuals have the ability to live on their own with the proper supervision and the proper care.\u201d<\/p>\n
Stewart wants to rehabilitate homes from the city\u2019s land bank, a repository of vacant houses that normally need minor renovations in order to be habitable. Each renovated house would have someone to supervise the homeless residents and an assigned person to cut the grass and perform other maintenance.<\/p>\n
Stewart grew up in Columbus. His mother served 25 years in the military and currently works for the Defense Logistics Agency, which supplies and supports the acquisition of weapons, parts and other materials.<\/p>\n
When he was a young boy, Stewart\u2019s aunt took her own life.<\/p>\n
\u201cThere are a lot of red flags and signs. If you\u2019re educated, you can notice these things and help out and possibly even prevent these type of things from happening,\u201d he said. \u201cFrom that point on, I knew I wanted to do something to make an impact.\u201d<\/p>\n
After graduating from Bexley High School, Stewart came to Wright State, attracted by the school\u2019s strong academics and not-too-close-but-not-too-far-away proximity to Columbus.<\/p>\n
\u201cI feel like it\u2019s one of those hidden gems,\u201d he said. \u201cIt\u2019s not an Ivy League school, but it has a great education.\u201d<\/p>\n
Stewart chose to major in organizational leadership<\/a> because it marries organizational systems with human management. After getting his bachelor\u2019s degree in 2013, he landed a job as business development adviser for the Ohio Hospital for Psychiatry, which is part of the Columbus-based Acadia Health Care system.<\/p>\n \u201cI think this is a place where I can make a career,\u201d he said. \u201cWe do community engagement, strategic partnerships and long-term planning. We\u2019re trying to see how we can make psychiatric care a continuum of normal health care.\u201d<\/p>\n It was through his community outreach and doing a survey of the 44 residential adult care facilities in the Columbus area that he realized many mentally ill people who lived in the facilities would benefit from greater supervision and structure that a home would provide.<\/p>\n So he founded a nonprofit called The NuLief Group<\/a> to do just that. The organization is getting grant money as part of an initiative by the City of Columbus to provide housing for up to 25 percent of the homeless population.<\/p>\n \u201cThe support I received was absolutely astonishing,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n Stewart was able to partner with other nonprofits to launch the inaugural R.E.A.C.H. (Revive, Evolve, Achieve, Create, Harvest) event in support of the mission. It attracted the attention of Columbus Mayor Michael Coleman, state senators, other community leaders and local media outlets.<\/p>\n Nathaniel Stewart studied organizational leadership at Wright State because it marries organizational systems with human management.<\/p><\/div>\n Stewart says Wright State is special to him because it instilled values and prepared him for the working world.<\/p>\n \u201cAnd being involved in organizations on campus allowed me to take that same model and try it out here after college,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n When he is not working, Stewart spends time with his 7-month-old daughter, Paetynn. And he likes to read.<\/p>\n His book at the moment is “Thick Face, Black Heart: The Warrior Philosophy for Conquering the Challenges of Business and Life.” It teaches how to apply ancient Chinese military wisdom to the competitive world of business.<\/p>\n \u201cIt really talks about having thick skin and being able to take on all the things that life throws at you,\u201d Stewart said.<\/p>\n Learn more about The NuLief Group at nuliefgroup.org<\/a>.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" Wright State alumnus Nathaniel Stewart ’13 spearheads effort to provide housing for the homeless in Columbus. Continue reading <\/a>