Man without a country headed home

FOLLOWING publication of my Tuesday column, it was learned that Samuel Foster, the man without a country, will be reunited with his son and family in England.

At the request of Mayor Nutter, a "major airline" donated a ticket, said Marie Nahikian, city director of supportive housing. The airline requested anonymity, and a very happy Foster will depart on Saturday.

Foster, 84, who was born in Jamaica, had traveled to England in 1959 on a British passport. Sometime later, after Jamaica obtained independence, and Foster had arrived in the United States, that passport was no longer valid, and he fell between the cracks of the bureaucracy.

It took some years, but RHD Fernwood, which operates the city shelter where Foster was staying, helped him secure documents that allowed him to travel out of the country. But he didn't have money to buy a ticket.

Not surprisingly, a number of Daily News readers contacted me with offers of donations, some large, some small, all welcome. Foster already has been helped, but there are 3,000 other homeless people living in city shelters, including several hundred Philadelphia children. I am asking the generous Philadelphians who stepped up, plus anyone else, to direct their holiday donations to: Donations Fund, Office of Supportive Housing, 1401 JFK Blvd., Ste. 1030, Philadelphia, Pa. 19102

Email: stubyko@phillynews.com

Phone: 215-854-5977

On Twitter: @StuBykofsky

Blog: ph.ly/BykoColumns: ph.ly/StuBykofsky