Glenn Hinton

After nearly 20 years in the health care industry in HR and recruiting, I left Texas with my wife to retire in Arizona and be near our two grandsons and coach them in little league baseball.

I did that for a while until one day my daughter came home and told me there was this great opportunity for me to give back through the Experience Matters program here in Phoenix (which places skilled older adults in non-profits). I made the call.

I found the perfect match with Circle the City, a medical respite center for homeless individuals that was in the start-up phase and had no employees, no policies, no benefits, no salary structure etc. I was interviewed by Sister Adele O’Sullivan, a Catholic nun who is not only a physician but also the founder. I started immediately to help her get her dream up and running.

Recently, we celebrated the fact that one individual was able to leave our center. When he came to us, he was a double amputee below the knees. Sister Adele got him the prostheses and physical therapy. I helped get him permanent housing. It was interesting for me because I’m a two time Vietnam vet, and a former special forces Green Beret and this man was a Vietnamese person. It occurred to me that I was fighting the Vietnamese back in 1970 and now I’m involved in the care of one who is now living here.

I have been here almost two years as a paid, part-time human resources manager. I love helping the Circle the City succeed in its mission of medical care, hospitality and social services for homeless individuals and I have been recognized as a major contributor on several occasions.

Sometimes as senior citizens, we get put out to pasture when we reach a certain age, so I feel really great about doing something really positive in an area I have expertise in. I would recommend doing an encore to all my fellow Boomers.