Christopher Ivy on how Hero helped him out of homelessness

Hi all. My name is Christopher Ivy and I have a little story to tell about the Hero Initiative and how they helped me when I needed it most.

After several years of a lucrative freelance career working for Marvel, DC, Valiant, Image and Dark Horse, I became one of a number of casualties of the great comic industry implosion of the late ’90s, right after Marvel Comics filed for bankruptcy. After a decade of trying to get regular comic industry work, as well as art-related work in other industries, I slowly spiraled downward into a new world of debt, my own bankruptcy and, eventually, even into homelessness. I happened to see an ad for the Hero Initiative online and, after some pride-swallowing, gave them a call. I was expecting a minimal amount of help from them. I would never have realized some 10 years ago, how mistaken I was.

In the first year alone, they helped me get out of a homeless shelter and into an apartment again, pay back a seemingly insurmountable amount of debt, and even secure some regular freelance work. But that wasn’t the end of the story, nor was it the best part. The whole experience triggered a need for me to help out, even in the smallest of ways, as I was helped.

I’ve witnessed so many similar stories of the Hero Initiative helping other industry pros over the last decade that I’ve dealt with them and I hope, with your help as well as mine, that they keep giving back to the comic industry like no one else has for decades to come.

Christopher Ivy