A group of women have banded together to help a Jefferson County man and his dog find a home.
Danielle Gherardini, Nancy Hakala-King, Vanessa Williams Hathaway, Michelle Lamb and Pamela Sophie have rallied around Dan Cothern and his dog, Bentley, a 4-year-old pit bull, by creating a Facebook page about their journey and collecting money and other donations.
Cothern, 62, said he has been homeless since 2013. He said he has lived in Festus, House Springs, De Soto, Cape Girardeau and Arnold.
The women, who administer the Facebook page “Dan and Bentley’s Support Team,” collect money through spotfund.com. As of Feb. 13, people have donated $8,983 to the “DanAndBentleySupport” page on spotfund.com.
“They have helped me out a lot, and I appreciate it,” Cothern said. “I will look for a way to pay them back.”
The Facebook page was started on Jan. 17 after Gherardini asked people on the Jeffco 411 Facebook page if they had information about Cothern and Bentley. Gherardini also said the support page started the day after Cothern and Bentley stayed at the Pear Tree Inn, 1201 Drury Lane, in Arnold for the first time.
Gherardini said Cothern and Bentley have been staying at the Pear Tree Inn since Jan. 19, when the group started paying for the room a month at a time.
The group arranges for food and groceries to be delivered to Cothern and Bentley through the Facebook group, which is private, and they have helped Cothern start the process of reinstating his Social Security benefits, connected him with a Compass Health caseworker and other area resources and arranged medical visits to address his heart issues.
They also connected with area veterinarians to get Bentley up to date on his vaccinations and get treatment for heartworms and torn ACLs in his back legs.
“I’m impressed by people’s kindness,” Gherardini, 51, of Barnhart said of the support the group has received through Facebook and spotfund.com. “I just feel like we need the right traction and right person to take a chance on us and Dan. He has a support system in the five of us, and we are not giving up.”
Tara Lang, a community health navigator for Chestnut Health Systems who works at the Jefferson County Health Department and is a leader for the Jefferson County Coalition for the Unhoused, said she is grateful the women are helping Cothern and Bentley.
“If we don’t have citizens stepping up and doing this, he would still be unhoused,” said Lang, who has helped connect the group to organizations to help Cothern and Bentley. “We do not have a shelter. We do not have transitional living in our community. I am grateful they have taken it upon themselves to fundraise and make sure he is safe.”
Connecting
Hakala-King, 52, of Imperial said she first met Cothern and Bentley in 2023 outside of the Walmart department store, 650 Truman Blvd., in Festus. She said she was in the area because she works at Mercy Hospital Jefferson in Crystal City.
She said she would talk with Cothern and bring food for him and for Bentley. However, she said she stopped seeing Cothern for about two years before seeing him and Bentley in October at the Arnold Target.
Hakala-King said she had arranged to meet Cothern outside of Target to give him a tent and a couple of sleeping bags on Oct. 31, but he did not show up. She said she found Cothern in November, got his cell phone number and would stop by a tent he and Bentley lived in near the I-55 overpass and close to the Circle K gas station, 1980 Richardson Road, in Arnold.
“I want to see him get healthy,” Hakala-King said. “I wanted to start crying when all of us got together to do what we can to help him get better.”
Gherardini said she had started talking to Cothern just before Christmas last year, when she and her daughter were shopping at Target and bought him items. She said she kept thinking about Cothern’s situation, and she and Lamb, who have been friends since they were 12, decided they wanted to find out more about him and if they could help him.
“Dan is like Uncle Dan,” said Lamb, 51, of Imperial. “He loves to talk. He is just sweet. Bentley is sweet and gentle. They are a good team.”
Gherardini and Lamb invited people on Jan. 18 to the Panera Bread restaurant, 909 Arnold Commons Drive, in Arnold to discuss how they could help Cothern and Bentley.
Hathaway and Sophie came to that meeting, and the core group, which included Hakala-King who could not make the meeting, was formed.
“There is something different about Dan and the way he took care of his dog that drew us in,” said Sophie, 43, of Imperial.
Helping
The women all said they have no history in social work, but they felt compelled to help Cothern because he never asked for anything when they spoke with him. Hathaway said Cothern’s devotion to Bentley also played a big factor in the women wanting to help him.
“I want to help when I can,” said Hathaway, 52, of Arnold. “Dan is friendly and nice, and we have come to think of him like an uncle. Bentley is the sweetest dog. Seeing their bond is nice.”
Gherardini said one of the first things they did was take Cothern to the Salvation Army of Jefferson County, 3740 Telegraph Road, just outside of Arnold’s city limits for a free meal served by The James II Project. The group provides free meals from 11:30 a.m. to 12:30 p.m. every Tuesday and Thursday at the Salvation Army and from 11:30 a.m. to 12:30 p.m. on Mondays at the United Methodist Church, 113 Grand Ave., in Festus.
Gherardini said Karin Kostich, The James II Project executive director, helped connect them and Cothern with organizations and resources.
“When they brought him to lunch, I was able to get him funds to get his birth certificate and ID, and I mentioned they need to get him to Compass to get him a case worker to get his Social Security on track,” Kostich said. “I love watching the community come together around someone. It has been awesome to see so many people interested in helping Dan and Bentley.”
The women said they believe they are doing the right thing and believe Cothern will be able to live independently after his Social Security benefits are restored.
“I’m in this for the long run, so we can do what we can to get him off the streets,” Hakala-King said.
Obstacles
Gherardini said the group is running out of money to continue to pay for Cothern’s stay at the hotel. She said it costs $2,500 a month, and they only have the room booked until March 9.
Gherardini said there is about $2,800 remaining of the money that has been donated through spotfund.com.
“It scares all of us that we might let him down,” she said. “We are just trying to set him up such that when he gets his benefits, we can set him up with a budget so he can stay independent.”
Gherardini also said it is difficult to find permanent housing for Cothern because he currently does not have a steady income source, and few renters are open to allowing pit bulls and because Cothern has a prison record.
Court records show Cothern was sentenced to seven years in prison in 2012 after pleading guilty to felony driving while intoxicated as an aggravated offender, which means he had been found guilty of three or more prior DWI charges. He was released from prison after undergoing a treatment program and placed on five years’ probation, according to court documents.
Cothern said he lived with his brother in Festus after being released from prison, but a falling out led to him living on the streets. He said he has not had a good relationship with his family since his father died in 2005.
Kostich said Cothern and Bentley is a unique situation, and she does not encourage people to try to help people in these situations by themselves.
“Directing people to organizations that can help them is probably the best bet,” she said. “Dan and Bentley are unique because they have been around for a long time and people have gotten to know him.”
Cothern said he is grateful the women and community have rallied to support him.
“I have family again,” he said. “They are not just friends, it is family. They call me Uncle Dan. My main goal is to get me a place to live because I am tired of being on the streets. Fourteen years is enough.”
People who need or know someone in need of resources to help with housing may contact the Jefferson County Coalition for the Unhoused through its Facebook page or Compass Health by calling 844-853-8937 or going to compasshealthnetwork.org. Kostich said the Health Department’s resource guide is available during The James II Project’s free meal events.