Tampa man pays it forward at Metropolitan Ministries after personal experience with nonprofit

TAMPA, Fla. - Keto Hodges is a perfect example of paying it forward.  

He lived at Metropolitan Ministries 27 years ago as a teenager. Now he's giving back to his Bay Area community and his helping hand is "What's Right With Tampa Bay." 

Metropolitan Ministries is familiar grounds for Keto Hodges. 

"I stayed here at Hope Hall, the original building," said Keto. "My mom and I shared a room with another single mom and her son." 

When Keto was five he was burned with second and third-degree burns in a cooking accident in his native country of Haiti. 

"An American missionary, Mrs. Ruth Hodges, who still lives here in Tampa, was there at the local hospital where my aunt brought me for treatment," he added. 

She arranged for Keto to come to the U.S. to have life-saving surgery at Shriners Hospital.  Ruth eventually adopted Keto and they moved to Tampa. 

But while on a missionary trip, they lost the home they were renting and found themselves homeless. 

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"My mom looked around, you know, we didn't have any family locally," said Keto. "She found that Metropolitan Ministries would take us in, and we were here for almost six weeks in the summer of 1995." 

Six weeks that changed Keto's life forever. 

"Even though, you know, I was poor, and we were homeless for a short time, I didn't feel poor, you know, because. I was surrounded by a lot of love," Keto explained. 

Not only did Metropolitan Ministries put a roof over their heads, but they also helped Keto get college scholarships. 

"I earned my AA in computer science at HCC, transferred to the University of South Florida - Go Bulls - and earned my business degree and then my MBA right after that," he said. 

Keto wants to now pay it forward by being a board member for Metropolitan Ministries. 

"It's hard to forget all that they've done for me," said Keto. "And so I try to give back as much as I can, you know, through the various food drives in the community, through my church, through different organizations." 

A message he hopes others hear. 

"You don't have to have a lot of money to give," Keto said. "You just have to have a big heart and care about others."