Local & National News | August 29, 2025 | 12:45 p.m. CDT

Edited: October 27, 2025 | 2:35 p.m. CDT

Written by: Gilbert Barnes Carter III

I have had the personal and professional privilege of writing content on behalf of Mr. Zachary Waters and the Homes For Hearts Memphis team for almost one year. Mr. Waters has emerged as one of the most capable and empathetic local housing justice champions. He founded Homes for Hearts in 2020. He launched his film production company, A Lee Dog Story, in July of 2018. Mr. Lee Thomas Brown, a United States Marine Corps veteran, is the central figure of Mr. Waters' nuanced storytelling of the courage, ingenuity, pride, redemption, and resourcefulness of the unhoused. Sadly, Mr. Brown passed away on July 14, 2018. He was nothing less than a giant to residents throughout the greater Midtown community. Mr. Brown's legacy is one major motivational factor for Mr. Waters. He identifies his proximity to unhoused families and individuals during his formative years as another. He described the first leg of a recent commute to meet an anonymous supporter as "full circle."

"I was born and raised in Memphis. I grew up off Jackson and University, and through years of bouncing around Midtown, North Memphis, and Downtown, I watched many of my fellow Memphians struggle to sustain housing. I recently drove to 1435 Hyde Park in North Memphis by Chelsea and Springdale, and passed my old school, Springdale Elementary. It is just a few blocks from the home we recently completed for a deaf Memphian, Mr. Henry Comas, and his two service dogs, Kaki and Whopper. I previously received a call from an anonymous Memphian. This individual wanted to meet me and see any Homes for Hearts tiny houses under construction that can be viewed. I quickly responded. 'We do! And we’re currently trying to raise the funds to complete it!'"

"As I pulled up across the street from 1444 Hyde Park, the location of the home that we just closed on for Henry, I reflected on how far we have come. I stepped out of my car and waved at the anonymous Memphian as she pulled up in front of 1435 Hyde Park. Henry walked over to his car with his pups. He waved at me with a smile that stretched from ear to ear. He now smiles exactly like that every time I visit his new tiny home. Through the entire application process and in getting to know Henry over the past three years, I rarely saw him smile. I never saw his dogs smile, either. Henry had three dogs when we first met, but one passed away while he was still living in his car by a dumpster behind the Waffle House location at Sycamore View Road and I-40."

"From Homelessness to Tiny Homeownership..."

Mr. Comas' courage is exemplified through his monumental progress.

"Henry has submitted his third consecutive payment, and is doing quite well in his new home. Henry continues to work with Bridges for the Deaf and Hard of Hearing case management officials on an as-needed basis. He loves his new home and is on a path toward homeownership in just 11 years. Special hearing impaired devices have been installed inside to help Henry feel extra secure in his new neighborhood. Henry is very tidy and well organized. He has decorated his home extraordinarily well."

Mr. Waters and the Homes for Hearts team hosted a wonderful fence building event at Mr. Comas' new tiny house on Saturday, May 17. Attendees included Mr. Waters' parents, his uncle, and three Homes for Hearts board members.

"His newly built fence is incredible for his pups and increased security on the property. Kaki and Whopper have a new lease on life, too, with a fenced-in backyard to run and play in, two new dog beds, A/C, heat, and every time I see them, they’re smiling, just like Henry. Their physical health is improving, and they both love sunbathing in the front and back yard a great portion of the day."

"Imagine a Memphis where sustainable homeownership is within reach for all."

It is evident that the trajectory of social good from Mr. Waters and the Homes for Hearts team has no limit. Mr. Waters may have received his most recent full circle moment in the meantime.

"The anonymous Memphian smiled and waved as we introduced ourselves. She held an envelope in her hand and shared encouraging sentiments about seeing the Action News 5 video with Joe Birch, Henry, and myself. She gave high praise for our work and our shared love for this city. She told me about her late husband and a home they had in Colorado, which she had recently sold after he passed. She also shared that her sister passed away just two days after we first spoke. She said she didn’t want to spend the money from the home on herself or on worldly things, she wanted to do something meaningful."

"She handed me the envelope. The following words were written on it."

“Donation in honor and memory of my sister, Ms. Marie Reeves Cook, and my late husband, Ms. Walter James Winfrey..."

A Lee Dog Story: https://aleedogstory.org/

Homes for Hearts: https://homesforhearts.org/

Photo Credits:

Header Photo by: Mr. Mike Kerr

Body Photo (1) by: Mr. Mike Kerr

Body Photo (2) by: Mr. Zachary Waters

Body Photo (3) by: Mr. Zachary Waters

Body Photo (4) by: Mr. Zachary Waters

Body Photo (5) by: Mr. Zachary Waters

Body Photo (6) by: Mr. Zachary Waters

Body Photo (7) by: Mr. Zachary Waters

Body Photo (8) by: Mr. Zachary Waters

Body Photo (9) by: Mr. Mike Kerr

Gilbert Barnes Carter III is a Memphis-based author, child welfare advocate, community organizer, emerging farmer, gardener, journalist, and social justice advocate. He began his social justice advocacy and work by serving as a Shelby County Fetal and Infant Mortality Review (FIMR) Board volunteer in 2005. He has worked since then to effectuate change for low-wage, immigrant, and migrant workers as a Temporary Workers Campaign Manager with Workers Interfaith Network; an advocate for Teamsters Local 667 sanitation workers; and a community / field organizer to uphold blight reduction, efficient public mass transit, environmental justice, food access, food justice, food security, narrative change, and public safety.