Trevor Ferrell

{{short description|American citizen|bot=PearBOT 5}}

{{Use mdy dates|date=December 2015}}

Trevor Ferrell (born 1972) is an American citizen who, as a young teenager, caught the public's eye for his efforts to assist homeless people.{{cite journal|last=Plummer|first=William|date=March 26, 1984|title=Philadelphia's Street People Have Found a Ministering Angel in Tiny Trevor Ferrell|journal=People|volume=21|issue=12|url=http://www.people.com/people/archive/article/0,,20087438,00.html}} He started Trevor’s Campaign for the Homeless in 1983, when he was 11 years old.{{cite web|url=http://www.trevorscampaign.org/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=21&Itemid=2|title=Our History|date=May 22, 2007|publisher=Trevor’s Campaign for the Homeless|accessdate=August 23, 2009}} On December 8, 1983, he watched a news program on street people. This prompted him to ask his parents, Frank and Janet Ferrell, how he could help. They drove their son into Philadelphia that night to give bedding to a homeless man who was sleeping on the sidewalk in front of the Union League in Center City.{{cite news|url=http://www.citypaper.net/articles/2003-12-04/cb2.shtml|title=Trevor's All Grown Up|last=Gerth|first=Rob|date=December 4–10, 2003|publisher=Philadelphia citypaper|accessdate=August 23, 2009}} He and his parents later established a homeless shelter, Trevor's Place.{{cite book|last=Metzler|first=Barbara R.|title=Passionaries: Turning Compassion Into Action|pages=[https://archive.org/details/passionariesturn0000metz/page/54 54]|chapter=Trevor Ferrell, Trevor’s Campaign|url=https://archive.org/details/passionariesturn0000metz|url-access=registration|quote=Trevor Ferrell+Trevor's Place.|isbn=978-1-59947-105-1|year=2006|publisher=Templeton Foundation Press}} His parents also authored a book, also called Trevor's Place, to further describe the actions thus accomplished, with a plea for further action. It was published in 1985.{{cite book|last=Ferrell|first=Frank|title=Trevor's Place: The Story of the Boy Who Brings Hope to the Homeless|url=https://archive.org/details/trevorsplacestor00ferr|url-access=registration|author2=Janet Ferrell|author3=Edward Wakin|publisher=Harper & Row|location=San Francisco|year=1985|pages=[https://archive.org/details/trevorsplacestor00ferr/page/138 138]|isbn=0-06-062531-7|oclc=84048768}}

Trevor Farrell's work was recognized by President Ronald Reagan in the President's 1986 State of the Union address.{{cite book|title=Dyslexia|last=Landau|first=Elaine|year=1991|pages=43, 45|publisher=Franklin Watts|isbn=0-531-20030-2}}{{cite news|url=https://www.cbsnews.com/news/american-heroes/|title=American Heroes: Two Young Americans Recall Life-Changing Moments With President Reagan|last=Leung|first=Rebecca|date=June 11, 2004|publisher=48 Hours|access-date=August 23, 2009}} A TV movie dramatizing the shelter's activities, titled Christmas on Division Street, aired in 1991. It featured actor Fred Savage as Trevor.{{Cite web|url=https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0101580/|title = Christmas on Division Street|website = IMDb|date = December 15, 1991}} A 1994 episode of the series Lifestories: Families in Crisis, titled Brotherly Love: The Trevor Ferrell Story, also described his efforts.{{Cite web|url=https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0394769/|title = Brotherly Love: The Trevor Ferrell Story|website = IMDb|date = March 31, 1994}}

He attended Linden Hill School in Northfield, Massachusetts.{{cite news |last=DeVoss |first=David |date=1998-01-28 |title=About those heroes: Reagan's nods pay off for some, play out for others|url=https://www.newspapers.com/image/532249957/|work=The Berkshire Eagle|location=Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania|access-date=2021-11-15}}

When Ferrell was 18, the family discontinued its efforts in the campaign. Ferrell currently works for the United Parcel Service and runs a thrift shop on Lancaster Avenue in Philadelphia.

In 1985, Ferrell received the Samuel S. Beard Award for Greatest Public Service by an Individual 35 Years or Under, an award given out annually by Jefferson Awards.{{cite web |url=http://www.jeffersonawards.org/pastwinners/national |title=National Winners {{!}} public service awards {{!}} Jefferson Awards.org |website=www.jeffersonawards.org |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20101124043935/http://jeffersonawards.org/pastwinners/national |archive-date=2010-11-24}}