Nehemiah Hamilton knows exactly what it feels like to go without life’s basic necessities.
When the 17-year-old rising senior first moved to Georgia, he experienced housing insecurity firsthand, Channel 2 Gwinnett County Bureau Chief Matt Johnson reported.
“We actually stayed with another one of my uncles and aunt, and there was a total of 13 of us in the house,” Hamilton said. “We were all sharing one bottle of soap. We were borrowing toothpaste.”
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Now the Archer High School student is turning that difficult experience into compassionate action by raising $500 this summer for essential items.
His goal: “Just to provide the basic goods for lower income families and unhoused individuals, a lot of the essentials, a lot of the little things, like deodorant, soap pads, and even light bulbs a lot of people don’t have access to.”
Hamilton plans to donate the supplies to local food pantries in Gwinnett County. He started the fundraiser online ahead of his final year at Archer.
“I know what it’s like to go without,” Hamilton said. “When people think of what lower income citizens need, they say food, water, shelter, but there are a lot of smaller things. People need deodorant. They need umbrellas. They need pads.”
After graduation, Hamilton said he hopes to attend college and eventually devote his life to public service.
“My goal is to help as many people as possible,” Hamilton said. “I guess I’m just gonna help people until there are no more people to help.”
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