Our News

Aurora marathon man also helping run nonprofit for homeless vets

by Denise Crosby October 10, 2025

Tom McCall, who found his passion for running in prison, ran in the Boston Marathon in April and will be competing in this weekend's Chicago Marathon. The Aurora man, who resumed his training through a program at Wayside Cross Ministries, is also helping to run a nonprofit he recently started to help homeless veterans find and keep sustainable housing. (Don Drake)

When I introduced readers to Tom McCall in April, the former businessman-turned-drug addict-turned convict-turned-runner had just competed in the Boston Marathon, quite a feat considering his training started on those dusty paths inside Dixon Correctional Center.

But McCall is not even close to slowing down. The 55-year-old Aurora man will be competing in this weekend’s Chicago Marathon with every intention of breaking the personal record – 3:09:37 – he set in Boston. The plan: to cross that finish line in under three hours, which in turn, he told me, would qualify him for international competition.

That’s all mighty impressive, considering McCall has had his share of setbacks, including the pandemic lockdown that prevented him from maintaining his prison workouts, and an extensive rehab after blowing out a knee.

But redemption and running are not the main reason McCall called me to talk again. When I met him earlier this year, the marathon man, who was released from prison in 2022 and graduated from Wayside Cross Ministries’ faith-based transformation program in Aurora a year later, had another goal in mind – to start a nonprofit to build small homes for struggling veterans who have been imprisoned or are homeless.

One thing I’ve learned about McCall, the son of a Vietnam War Air Force veteran who himself spent seven years in the Army National Guard: when he sets his mind to something, there’s little that will throw him off course.

Since we last spoke McCall did, indeed, form that nonprofit organization. It’s called Veteran Homes of Honor and is chaired by Ron Kelso, who served as executive coordinator for Fox Valley Habitat for Humanity for over 20 years and in 2015 was given the Illinois Habitat for Humanity Hero Lifetime Achievement Award.

In addition to McCall and Kelso, the nascent board also includes John Bedell, former Wayside Cross director of Urban Youth Ministries, and Marc Mercado, founder of TeachTeam, a nonprofit focused on the educational component of homelessness.

Veteran Homes of Honor not only intends to build small and compact homes but network with other nonprofits determined to get rid of the housing bottleneck that prevents so many people from moving forward.

While still in its early stages, the board is recruiting partners to “fill in the gaps where our shortcomings are,” noted Kelso, adding that the grant-writing process has also begun. And the group met with a “very supportive” U.S. Rep. Bill Foster, D-Naperville, about possibly acquiring the old federally-owned armory on Sullivan Road in Aurora that could be turned into housing or used as a resource center.

Kelso came on board because the last project he was working on with Habitat – duplexes in Yorkville for 120 veteran families – did not come to fruition.

“The bottom line is, my heart breaks for anybody needing housing, but especially for veterans. It is a high calling,” said the retired and longtime Naperville teacher, who got involved with Habitat two decades ago as a way of dealing with the suicide death of his son Kevin.

In addition to tiny homes that are up to 400 square feet, the group is also looking at “the next size up” at 600 square feet. But another important component of the program, Kelso insisted, is offering wraparound services that will help these struggling veterans acclimate back into society and the workforce.

“Having shelter is vital for your well-being,” insisted McCall. “We want to provide homes that are affordable and sustainable for veterans” while also “training them” in entrepreneurship and leadership.

Both were qualities McCall said he possessed until addictions to money, alcohol and drugs led him down a dark path that led him eventually to prison. It was while incarcerated, however, that he not only found a deep faith in God but a passion for running, both of which he took with him to Wayside after he’d served his sentence.

In Aurora, McCall trained on the bike paths along the Fox River. But a turning point came a few years ago when Wayside started a chapter of Up and Running Again, a California-based Christian nonprofit that partners with missions to train homeless individuals to compete in half-marathons.

The Rev. Bruce McEvoy, pastor at Chapelstreet Church in Geneva and a marathon runner who brought this program to Wayside, described McCall as a “real student” of this sport who was soon outperforming his coaches.

McCall was, in fact, the first of more than 1,500 participants in this national program to compete in a marathon. And the fact he ran in Boston’s Patriot’s Day race this spring only sealed his reputation, adding to a remarkable narrative he’s not yet finished writing.

This weekend, when he runs in the Chicago Marathon, he will proudly be wearing a T-shirt bearing the logo and name of Veteran Homes of Honor.

“Tom is the heart and soul of this newly-formed nonprofit,” said Biddell. “It was Tom’s vision to begin this initiative and he will play a pivotal role in making it a reality.”

Their goal is to start building in a year. And Kelso is asking for anyone who “has a heart to be part of this solution for veteran housing to check us out” at www.veteranhomesofhonor.org.

“The cause is so worthy, I just can’t stop,” he said. “Like Tom, we’ll just keep running and see where it all goes.”

dcrosby@tribpub.com