Farewell to Phase, a fearless feline who gave thousands of homeless men ‘spiritual hope’

Over 18 years, Phase curled up in roughly 12,000 laps, helping men shake off homelessness and addiction, lending a paw to Raleigh’s needy.

As the “campus kitty” at Healing Transitions, a homeless shelter and recovery program, he softened the rough edges around men coming off gritty lives, some of them ex-Marines who definitely preferred dogs.

One pat was all it took.

“The way he would walk around and was always sure of himself, and wasn’t one of those mischievous cats,” said Malaika Hawkins, who arrived at the shelter seven months ago off Raleigh’s streets. “Once I started playing with this cat, he inspired me to try something different.”

On Friday, 40 men at Healing Transitions buried Phase in the shady courtyard he favored, placing a stone over his grave. He had kidney failure, high-blood pressure and arthritis, and the shelter made the tearful decision to give him peace.

“I don’t know a cat that has met as many people,” said Chris Budnick, executive director. “There’s been 12,000 men through here.”

Cats tend to wander onto the shelter from the nearby Farmers’ Market and Dorothea Dix campus. The men there can identify, wanderers themselves, and the shelter hosts a small fraternity of felines.

Named for a stage in the recovery program, Phase drifted between the garden out back and the sofas in the lounge. Every two weeks, the shelter appointed a new “Cat Daddy” to give care.

“He’ll look at you and give you spiritual hope,” said Chris Johnson, once homeless in Durham.

For several days, Hawkins said he couldn’t pick up Phase, who was too troubled by arthritis. But near the end, he let the big man scoop him up and feed him a few kibbles as a goodbye. Hawkins felt too fragile to attend the funeral Friday. Their moment together would suffice.

“I had a chance to give him his last meal,” he said. “He ate it out of my hand. I feel blessed he took it from me. A guy like me.”

This story was originally published May 22, 2020 at 4:25 PM with the headline "Farewell to Phase, a fearless feline who gave thousands of homeless men ‘spiritual hope’."