Matthew Parker and his partner Bailey, a YouTuber and mobile mechanic, responded to a Facebook message with photos from a single father standing on the side of the road in Tulsa with his two young kids, a roughly 3-year-old boy and a 2-year-old girl. One child is named River in the footage.
The father was holding a sign. When they arrived, he was crying and the older child was saying he was hungry.
The father had a car, but the head gasket blew, leaving them without transportation. He had been staying at an Eagle Suites style hotel but ran out of money that day.
He had been out on the roadside with the kids since about 8 a.m., with people yelling at him to “go get a job.”
The children’s mother is described as an alcoholic who wants nothing to do with him or the kids. They were literally homeless with almost nothing, limited belongings, no place to stay, and no car.
Parker had initially thought the messages might be a bluff, but they were real. The family was visible on the roadside with the sign complaining that the city of Tulsa wasn’t helping.
Parker and Bailey picked them up from the roadside. It was the first time they had loaded someone into the work vehicle that way.
They tried returning to the previous hotel, but it refused to rent to them again because one of the kids had drawn on a wall in a small room where they were all sleeping on one bed.
They found another hotel, paid for a room, initially covering a week, with later efforts aimed at longer term support. They bought food, including Happy Meals for the kids, and got them settled.
They also stopped for Easter baskets since the timing was around Easter.
Parker set up a GoFundMe called “Help a Single Father Rebuild His Life,” seeking donations for a vehicle, longer housing, a job, and a babysitter so the father could work as a single parent.
He publicly urged viewers to help change the ending of the story.
Later, child welfare reportedly contacted Parker’s household in connection with the case.
Parker noted the irony. The dad had been easy to locate because he was standing publicly on the roadside with a sign and the kids, ages roughly 2 and 3, yet services apparently had trouble finding him.
Parker and Bailey had already helped with a hotel, food, and longer-term support plans, including a vehicle and job assistance.