'It's been challenging, yet beautiful': How a Massachusetts man beat the odds, became a local success story
The manager of a Boston pizzeria says serving up slices is a part of the gig, but the support and commitment to his success is what got him to where he is now.
See the story in the video above
Katarian Andrews, the manager of Sal's Pizza, says he went from being homeless and sleeping at the restaurant to leading the team.
"Take care of everything, take care of the customers, make sure everything is moving smooth," Andrews said.
He has been managing Sal's Pizza on Tremont Street for the past year.
"I have regular customers that come in here every day and they take pride in the food that I provide to them, also the service that I provide to them," Andrews said. "For me, it's been a challenging, yet beautiful experience."
For Andrews, life has also been challenging, yet beautiful. His parents lived with drug addiction from the time he was a child, forcing him out of his home as a teenager. He later faced life on the streets.
"Figuring out how I was gonna eat from day to day, or how I was going to take care of myself. There were times that I slept outside," Andrews said.
He found his way to St. Francis House, excelling in their "Moving Ahead Program" which provided the tools and support he needed to land a job at Sal's Pizza.
Although he was employed, Andrews still needed a place to sleep, so he ended up sleeping at the pizzeria.
"So when I first heard about it, I was filled with kind of rage, a little bit, when I found out one of my employees was sleeping in the store," Sal's Pizza owner Salvatore Lupoli said. "The rage was: that can't happen to one of the family members. I was so upset about it."
For Lupoli, employees are family and Andrews was no exception. So he and the company gave him the support he needed.
"Who you are is where you came from," Lupoli said. "And if you understand where he came from, you have to be filled with emotion, you have to be filled with pride."
Sal's is now matching customer donations up to $10,000 to be given to St. Francis House in Andrews' honor.
He has been gifted a year of free energy bills from Inertia Resources to help him out.
Andrews said he hopes to use the savings to provide for his family and chase his dreams as a singer and songwriter.
