Michael DePeazer turns pain into purpose and death into direction.

In 2021, the Waverley West resident’s brother, Mitch, died of a drug overdose at the age of 39. DePeazer recalls how his brother, a drywall taper and musician, was always willing to help those around him because he cared so deeply about people.

“I call him the man with two hearts,” DePeazer says.

The 46-year-old has a theory about what happens when someone you love dies. He believes that you take on one of the deceased’s characteristics — something you yourself might be lacking — and you change for the better.

DePeazer has cared about the people around him for a long time, but his brother’s death challenged him to consider how he might double down and help even more — how he, himself, might become a man with two hearts.

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