RAY COUNTY, Mo — What's been stable for Jimmy Merriman the past few weeks is his small apartment that has just enough of what he needs.
"I grew up here my whole life," Merriman said.
For the past year, the hospital has been his on-and-off home.
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"I'm fighting a broken back, plus COPD and pneumonia," he said.
When Merriman wasn't in the hospital, he said he was in a less than desirable living space. All it took was a 911 call for that to change, although it wasn't to who you would think.
"Pizza Hut called 911 dispatch and advised a male called and said he needed pizza and the police," Ray County Sheriff Scott Childers said.
All Merriman said he needed was a safer place to stay. Ray County Commissioner Dave Powell, Childers and his inmate work program made that possible.
"I talked to the apartment owner and said, 'Do you have an apartment we can get this guy in? He needs a safe place to stay,'" Childers said. "He said it would take four days, so I said, 'If we brought the inmate work crew, could we get it ready in a couple hours?' He said, 'Absolutely.'"
In his new place, Merriman was overwhelmed with emotions.
"Makes me wanna cry to be honest," he said.
Merriman said the help from these inmates, who've done community volunteer work before, is a reminder that there's potential in all of us. It's a lesson that's personal for him.
"He has a son he wants to see that will be out in April, out of the Department of Corrections. He's just trying to survive that long to see his son," Childers said.
It's a new year. Merriman has a new home and a new purpose.
"My whole goal is to get him on the right track," Childers said. "That's my whole goal in life hours."
Merriman's health has been declining for the past several months, but he believes this is the year it will turn around for the better.
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