“It was terrible,” Vernon said. “People all over the place. Urine all over the place. Needles all over the place.”

He slowly started rebuilding his life. Vernon enrolled in parenting and conflict-management classes, as the court ordered, and he agreed to never allow the boys’ mother to take them for a visit.

Vernon got a job with the Tenderloin Merchants Association, as a street ambassador and supervisor, to help keep the neighborhood clean and offer support services.

But finding affordable housing geared toward a single father proved the most difficult hurdle. Most of the programs and buildings Vernon found to help families were geared toward single mothers, not fathers.

“There’s just not very much help when it comes to male parenting,” he said.

You could hear it, in every word, that (custody of his sons) was what his main focus was on,” Beasley said. “That was the only thing that mattered.

Vernon finally decided it was time to ask for extra help. On a late afternoon in August, he walked into the Hospitality House, a nonprofit in the Tenderloin that offers support services to low-income and unhoused people.

Case manager Theodis Beasley said he was immediately struck by Vernon’s story and how committed he was to regaining custody of his sons. He said he could tell the father was a “diamond in the rough.”

“You could hear it, in every word, that (custody of his sons) was what his main focus was on,” Beasley said. “That was the only thing that mattered.”

Beasley reached out to the Season for Sharing Fund for help. Within weeks, Vernon and his sons moved into their new apartment.

“It was a blessing. I probably cried twice,” he said. “Everything is just starting to come around.”

Vernon said the apartment, which is in an affordable building on Turk Street, is a work in progress. For a few months, the family slept on mattresses on the floor and used suitcases for chairs in the living room. They recently got beds and a dining table.

But while the furnishings might still be sparse, Vernon said he’s reveling in the chance to have fun with his boys again.

When Sir William and Bryant aren’t busy with schoolwork or chess club or gymnastics, Vernon said he takes them on walks to the park or play dates with friends. He’s also splurged on a few arcade nights at Dave & Buster’s.

I’m glad and blessed to be here now, where I can show them with an example,” Vernon said. “I’m teaching them, ‘For every day that you’re alive, you do something for someone.

Vernon and his sons also have regular dinners with the couple who fostered the boys in Redwood City. He said the couple has been supportive and will stay a close part of his sons’ lives.

Mostly, he said he’s grateful for the chance to have the boys under the same roof, and to teach them important life lessons, including what it’s like to grow up as a Black man in America and the value of helping others.

“I’m glad and blessed to be here now, where I can show them with an example,” Vernon said. “I’m teaching them, ‘For every day that you’re alive, you do something for someone.’”