After years of struggling with homelessness, last year Sal’s Pizza Manager Katarian “KT” Andrews was cornered into sleeping out of the store.

Today, he’s back on his feet as the multi-unit manager at the pizza staple and helping raise money for others in similar crises through the homelessness support nonprofit St. Francis House.

“I’ve been working in the pizza industry for approximately 15 years, and I’ve been a general manager probably for the last seven,” said Andrews. “I had the qualifications to get into this role. St. Francis was a place where I went because I didn’t have nowhere to go due to familial issues. It goes a lot deeper than that.”

Sal Lupoli, founder of Sal’s Pizza, called Andrews a “great role model for our stores and a great role model for me,” citing all the manager has overcome in his life.

“I think KT is an inspiration to people who are looking in the mirror and asking themselves, ‘What am I going to do now?’” said Lupoli. “And, ‘Maybe I’m at the end.’ KT is an inspiration that you can always turn things around.”

At age 13, Andrews was first forced out onto the street. For a while, he said, he was able to stay afloat working at Ben’s Fast Food as an assistant manager. Eventually, though, through a family crisis, Andrews said, he lost that job too.

“I was jobless, without any type of income,” said Andrews. “When I was at St. Francis, I used to go to the fifth floor because they had a punching bag up there. So I would go up there and utilize the heavy bag because I’m into boxing.”

That was where one of the employees found him one day, Andrews said, and introduced him to the Moving Ahead Program designed to help people with a stipend and training to get back into the workforce. Soon enough, he was working at American Flatbread in Brighton and headed to graduating the program.

“While the other students were working on their resume, I was already ready to start applying for another management position,” said Andrews. “So I saw the job description for Sal’s Pizza on Indeed, and I applied.”

Andrews secured living quarters through another St. Francis program, Rapid Rehousing, but another safety threat encroached on his new-found shelter.

“That’s what caused me to sleep out the store,” said Andrews. “My safety again. I started sleeping out of the store, and I want to say I did that for three weeks.”

One night, another employee came to fix something in the store, Andrews said, and he ended up opening up to the man. The co-worker told him about apartments that Lupoli owned with discounts for employees.

Andrews applied for the lofts, but he didn’t have move-in costs saved, he said. He asked for an advance on his paychecks, Andrews said, and was declined.

But the supervisor went to Lupoli and told him Andrew’s situation.

“When I hear things like that, and it’s about my employees — we have about 1,000 employees — I got filled with like rage, almost,” Lupoli said. “And that rage was because one of our family members was sleeping in in the store. Because they had no place to live.”

Lupoli cited his parents’ influence, saying “they taught me try to impact people’s lives as best you can, and don’t forget where you came from.” The restaurateur helped cover the move-in costs and got Andrews into an apartment.

Now, Andrews is still working at the Tremont Street location, sending his rent and trying to “pay it forward.”

He’s hired three people from the St. Francis program, one of whom still works in the store, and shared his story at a gala for the Moving Ahead program in recent months. In late February, he came into the store to find a fundraiser in his honor.

“It was a little surprise to me, but I’m happy that they’re raising money in my honor for other people who may be experiencing homelessness and things of that nature,” said Andrews. “I’m ecstatic about it.”

Lupoli said he aims to raise $20,000 for St. Francis House through customers and companies’ donations and will match donations given.

Andrews said he wants to leave people with the message that you can work your way out of a bad situation.

“I’ve always been an astute individual,” said Andrews. “Yes, St. Francis did help me. Yes, Sal did give me an opportunity, but I’ve worked my way to be where I’m at.”

Sal’s Pizza manager Katarian “KT” Andrews, who went from homeless to manager, makes a pizza at the Tremont St location. (Nancy Lane/Boston Herald)

Sal’s Pizza owner Sal Lupoli tosses dough at the Tremont St location.(Nancy Lane/Boston Herald)