When a Georgia 18-year-old's parents recently learned he was bisexual, they threw him out of the house, leaving his belongings on the front yard.
Worse yet, they took his car and even the money he had saved from bagging groceries part-time, leaving him essentially homeless and penniless.
Although Nick's parents did not support him, hundreds of strangers did.
Steve Bevers, whose mother-in-law works with Nick, took him in and set up a crowd funding page to help raise money for Kennesaw State freshman.
Others then rallied around the broke teen to offer their support, and managed to raise thousands of dollars via crowd-funding to send him to college.
"When I heard about what happened, I was flabbergasted," Bevers said later. "I couldn't understand how a parent could do that. I just was amazed."
"While I'm sure there are multiple sides to the story, I was hurt. The first thing I asked was, 'Does he need a place to stay? Does he need some money?'"
According to his GoFundMe page, Bevers believes the people "most responsible for loving and protecting" Nick have completely hung him out to dry.
As a result, "We're working to show Nick that he is loved, even by strangers."
His goal? To show "that the horrible acts of some people will not stop him, and that with the help of people everywhere, he can get through this."
In just a few days, nearly 400 people have donated more than $12,000.
On October 24, Nick uploaded a video to tell supporters his story.
He offered much gratitude, and revealed that he did not choose to tell his father and stepmother about his sexuality because of how they would respond.
"This whole thing started when my stepmom caught wind of me being bisexual," he said. "I don't know where she got her information from, but I know it wasn't from me."
"She didn't like that and neither did my dad. I got told some very vulgar and disgusting things... That's why I didn't tell them, because I wasn't ready."
"And I didn't tell them for the exact reaction I was scared about."
Nick added that he is trying to get registered for the spring semester of school and is also hoping to put some of the donation money toward a car.
Bevers adds, "[I am] absolutely blown away. Amazed, humbled, and once again, I had my faith in humanity restored. Bad things happen. That will always be the truth."
"But what this showed me is that people want to help."
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