Julio Florencio Teo Gómez was an inspiration to many people around him, his friends said, despite the tough circumstances he faced. He was unable to find year-round work and lived in the wintertime in an encampment in the woods in Southampton, but still kept a positive outlook on life. A father of five who came to the United States from Guatemala in 2010 to find carpentry work and support his family, Mr. Teo Gómez died after being struck by a car on County Road 39 on Dec. 30. He was 48.
To honor his memory, Hamptons Community Outreach, a nonprofit organization, announced on Feb. 10 that it is establishing a job-training program for people in circumstances like those Mr. Teo Gómez faced. Its goal is to provide the knowledge and experience needed to work in skilled fields like carpentry or plumbing, with the goal of helping people find lucrative, year-round jobs — a pathway to living a better life.
Marit Molin, a social worker and the organization’s founder, said to make the training program successful the organization needs donations and contractors willing to participate. “We will pay the businesses to train them,” she said.
Hamptons Community Outreach focuses on helping economically disadvantaged families, marginalized individuals, and immigrant communities with needs such as food, clothing, and shelter. For instance, the group provided motel rooms to Mr. Teo Gomez and several others when temperatures dropped to dangerously low levels around Christmastime last year. Its volunteers deliver groceries to people who can’t get to food pantries, often driving into wooded areas that delivery trucks can’t reach, helping more than 400 families each week.
The group has also renovated substandard houses, and it provides college assistance to struggling students and raises money for summer camp, prom tickets, tutoring, and holiday gifts.
Oftentimes, Hamptons Community Outreach donors respond to specific programs and initiatives that resonate with them individually. A violin for a budding young musician? A cheerful bedroom renovation for a child whose walls were covered in mold? The list goes on.
There are 45 families on a waiting list for emergency home repairs, Ms. Molin said. One girl the group helped recently told her that “when this is what you wake up to every day, you start to think it’s what you deserve.”
A Feb. 10 fund-raiser at the Watermill Center — a “celebration of love, hope, big dreams, and our dedication to changing lives,” Ms. Molin said — raised more than $60,000 to support existing programs and help kick-start the job training program, but more help is needed.
Doing this work has been “a journey full of tears and challenges, but more than anything, it’s been a journey full of triumphs and growth and incredible kindness and generosity,” she said.
Those interested in helping can visit hamptonscommunityoutreach.org to learn more or donate.
