Former homeless man returns to Fort Lauderdale to inspire others
FORT LAUDERDALE - Matthew Popp hopes to motivate people struggling with homelessness at Fort Lauderdale Community Court.
The community court started in 2019, aiming at connecting people struggling with homelessness access to services, and to provide alternatives to jail for low-level offenses.
Back in 2020, he was about to become a partial owner of a restaurant. The pandemic caused that endeavor to fall through. He started drinking and that led to other drugs. He ended up homeless for two and a half years.
"Just sleeping right down the street over here," Popp said. "I was behind a building sleeping. I was getting high over here drinking."
Officer Scott Hagemann is with Fort Lauderdale Police's Homeless Outreach Unit. He says Matthew was one of the first people he helped.
"We have community court on Wednesday, so I would come by on Tuesday," Hagemann said. "Hey, are you ready? You coming to court tomorrow?"
CBS News Miami asked Hagemann how many weeks in a row he spent trying to get Popp to community court.
"I dunno. Over a year," Hagemann said.
His persistence paid off. Matthew finally went to community court and eventually checked into rehab In Indiana. Now, he's started his own window cleaning business, all within a year. He came back to South Florida to update the community court on his progress.
"It felt good to be able to show everything I've been through," Popp said. "If I can give hope to somebody else, even if it's just one person that my story hits."
Matthew hopes to come back to Community Court every few months to continue to share his story. Officer Hagemann said is impressed by Matthew's resilience and how he recovered so quickly.