A chance meeting under a Missouri overpass turned into a new home, a job and a support system for a man who had spent more than a decade living on the streets.

Dan Cuthern had been surviving with his dog, Bentley, under an overpass in Jefferson County, Missouri, when five women met them and decided to help.

What began as a fundraiser for a temporary place to stay quickly grew after the women got to know Cuthern better. Donations helped move him into a hotel room in February, giving him a short break from life on the streets.

The women soon decided that would not be enough.

“You don’t realize how hard it is for someone to get back on their feet until you’re trying to help them do it,” one of the women said.

They kept raising money and also put in some of their own until they found what the story described as an affordable RV for Cuthern and Bentley.

The RV gave the pair a place to call home after years of hardship. When the women surprised him with it, Cuthern struggled to put the moment into words before saying, “I love it.”

Bentley remained at the centre of the effort from the start. The women said Cuthern’s commitment to his dog deeply moved them as they worked to help him.

Cuthern described how he handled the hardest stretches of street life by putting Bentley first.

“There was a week that went by, I didn’t eat, but my dog didn’t go hungry,” he said.

The group then helped connect him with work at a local doggy daycare, a job the story said he was thrilled to accept.

The new job came alongside stable shelter and an ongoing support network from the same women who first stopped to help. The story said his future now looks brighter than it has in years.

Cuthern said the women have become family to him.

“My brothers and sisters now,” he said.

The women said they do not plan to step back now that he has housing and work.

“He’s gonna have us as a staple in his life for quite some time,” one of the women said.

📸 Credit: KMOV