COVINGTON, Ga. — Last week, a Covington City Council member and her roommate flung into action to aid a stranger they happened upon by accident.

On a frigid Thursday afternoon, Monica McLendon left her loft in downtown Covington and took Cash, her roommate’s 4-year-old Schnoodle, for his daily walk. The two normally trekked southbound, but decided to stray from their normal route and head toward the Square.

As they strolled along the sidewalk adjacent to Washington Street, she spotted an elderly man reclining on one of the park benches. Clad in tan slacks and a tan jacket, he was lying on his side with his hood up and his head propped on a bag of clothes he’d been using as a makeshift pillow. McLendon immediately walked Cash back to her loft, grabbed two water bottles and brought them back to the Square to give to the man.

“I gave the water to him and you would’ve thought I had given him lottery money,” McLendon recalled. “I mean, he was so thankful and so gracious and so appreciative of those two bottles of water.”

McLendon learned the man’s name was James Johnson but quickly discovered that he didn’t know where he was or how he’d gotten to the bench he was occupying. 

Shortly thereafter, she received a call from her roommate, Covington councilwoman Fleeta Baggett, who was inquiring about their plans for lunch. McLendon brought her roommate up to speed on the situation, and Baggett drove to the Square to bring meals for the three of them.

It wasn’t long after her arrival that Baggett, whose late grandmother had suffered from dementia, realized James Johnson was experiencing symptoms of a similar illness.

“He definitely had that vague look in his eyes,” Baggett said. “He knew his name and he knew he’d been to Grady Memorial Hospital in Atlanta. But he didn’t know where he was, and he wasn’t sure how he’d gotten here.”

She took it upon herself to help locate Johnson’s family. McLendon captured a picture of Baggett sitting on the bench beside the man with her arm stretched out for comfort. This snapshot was then posted to Baggett’s personal Facebook page with a message seeking help from the local community to identify and place “Mr. James.”

“This is my friend James. I watched as he never moved off a park bench today. He was released from Grady after having a stroke. He also has dementia,” the post began, filtering in more details about the situation as it continued. “I need help. Sweet Mr. James needs our help… Help me find the right resources to help my new friend. My heart is breaking.”

Baggett and McLendon also began making phone calls. They discovered the local homeless shelter appeared to be full, so they put him up in a HomeTowne Studios hotel for the night to provide him with shelter as they continued their search.

The Social Circle Police Department was able to track down members of Johnson’s family the following day, which ultimately led to locating his granddaughter, Cassandra Gresham, in Athens. As it turned out, Gresham had been looking for Johnson for two months and a missing persons report had been filed.

Baggett did thorough background research, found that Gresham checked out as who she claimed to be and took Johnson to Athens to reunite with his granddaughter and three great grandchildren.

“It took a few minutes until it clicked, but when he finally did recognize Cassandra as she talked more, I noticed a huge relief,” Baggett said. “I think it was also a huge relief on him as he got to eat and got to sleep. I think part of [the delay] was just the sheer exhaustion from wherever he’d been wandering from.”

Johnson’s family noted that this isn’t the first time he’d wandered off on his own, so a plan is in the works to place him in a facility that can provide specialized care for him.