SACRAMENTO, California — Overlooking the living room of their Tahoe Park home, Don and Dawn Nahhas put up a painting of their late son Josh sporting a 'Metallica' t-shirt surrounded by his nephews.
"This is what it would be like if he got up with all of his nephews," Dawn Nahhas said. "Some of the youngsters didn't get to know Josh and (my daughter) doesn't like that. It bothers her."
Looking at the painting and all of the other pictures the Nahhas family has of Josh in the house, you wouldn't know he lived most of his adult life on and off the streets—suffering with alcohol addiction.
Though he had stints of sobriety and was never far from family nor his unhoused community, Josh passed away at 32 after his liver failed from alcohol-related damage.
Don and Dawn Nahhas said it was hard to imagine Josh gone at such a young age, given many people can suffer from alcohol addition for decades before seeing life-threatening health conditions.
They saw unhoused residents of all walks of life in the years they spent visiting Josh at homeless encampments to visit and bring supplies.
Josh looked out for the vulnerable people at the homeless communities he stayed in, Dawn Nahhas said, being generous with the resources his parents provided.
"A lot of them out there call me 'Mom' because I was out there all the time," she said. "Last weekend, we were passing out flyers for our upcoming event, and I ran into someone we know and she saw me and started crying."
And this is not the first time homeless people who knew Josh shared their grief with the Nahhas — many of them knew Josh's parents as the ones who cared. It was after his death that Don and Dawn Nahhas knew they had to do something to continue his legacy and help the folks he left behind.
'Josh's Heart' didn't start organizing large giveaways until the Nahhas got a call from their church asking them if they could collect backpack donations for homeless Hiram W. Johnson High School students.
"We put together 120 backpacks with the help of 30 volunteers in the house. So that's how we got started," Don Nahhas said. "We've been doing about 250 backpacks a year."
For Saturday's event, the family enlisted the help of more than 100 volunteers that include out-of-state relatives and members of their church.
They even partnered with SacRT to offer free bus and light rail passes on a QR code on 2nd and 3rd. A shuttle from 65th & Power Inn light rail stations as well as the J Street/CSUS bus hub will be offered.
Click here to check out the QR code or view the flyer at the bottom of the story.
Sponsors of the event include local city councilmembers, Great Clips, SMUD and more.
"Josh had friends on the street we knew, and they would tell us fun stories. So everyone has their street name, and Josh was 'Knuckle'," Don Nahhas said. "His friends told us if the camp was dirty, Josh would make sure everyone clean. He kind of marshaled the encampments."
The Nahhas family said they are expecting anywhere from 50 to 300 unhoused residents to come Saturday, as dozens of not only volunteers, but representatives of local organizations wait to welcome them.
"Having everything in one spot where they can just come and say 'Oh, I need help with that' or 'I need a haircut' will go a long way," Dawn Nahhas said.
