WARNER ROBINS, Ga. — "When I stand up in front of people who need me the most, that's when I feel most invested in myself," Billy Sparks said. "I feel like that's my calling."
Sometimes life gives you lemons. If we are anything like Sparks, we invest in our lemons.
Before Sparks had his three kids, he was a football player for three years at a community college in California.
"I used to point in the crowd and say, 'You here with me, you watching over me, you with me, we here together!'" Sparks said.
But, with seven months left in his second year at Yuba College, Sparks said he had a secret he's never shared with anyone.
"When the sun would get up, I'm up, because I didn't want anyone else to see that I was homeless, still going to school still trying to make something of myself," he said.
However, being unhoused didn't make him sour.
"I ended up passing all my classes except one, so that's pretty good for a homeless guy, right? Haha!" Sparks said.
He graduated with his associates, then went to Fort Valley State University to play football on a scholarship, while studying Criminal Justice and training in the ROTC program.
But, while things were starting to get sweet, Sparks' stepdad died by suicide.
He remembers fighting the urge to give up at the time.
"If I said 'I give up,' then everything's just gonna melt, so I just gotta keep going," he said.
Despite the lemons life kept throwing at him, Sparks played in a Croatian League overseas for about a year.
But then, during his homecoming, he was hit with another bombshell.
"I realized my brothers and sister's in foster care," he said. "Someone else was taking care of them."
Though people close to Sparks were watching kids and keeping them safe, he said he couldn't help but feel a sting in his core.
"I channeled my own rage by taking a deep breath," he said.
Years of sleepless nights later, it took Sparks about five years to finally reunite with his family: John, Ivory and Billy Jr.
Now, Habitat for Humanity is trying to raise $20K to finish building a home for the family of four.
You can support the Spark's home build by donating to Houston County Habitat for Humanity.