Mr. Penny will be going home soon.

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Johnny Richmond, who has been undergoing rehabilitation at the East Alabama Medical Center since March 28, could return home at some point next week, hospital public relations manager John Atkinson said Wednesday.

Richmond’s daughter, Marenda confirmed Atkinson’s statement.

Richmond, 58, known to many in the Auburn community as Mr. Penny, is breathing on his own and talking some, Atkinson said.

“He’s speaking a little when he feels like speaking,” Marenda Richmond said. “It just depends on his day and how he’s doing.”

Richmond, who is listed in fair condition, has been hospitalized since Feb. 27 after he was discovered at his Boykin Street home with a gunshot wound to the head.

After initially being taken to EAMC, Richmond was transferred in March to UAB Hospital, where he spent more than three weeks before being sent back to Opelika.

Since his injury, there has been an outpouring of public support for him, including a candlelight vigil and a makeshift memorial set up at the corner of Dean Road and Samford Avenue, where he also worked as a crossing guard for the City of Auburn.

Dean Road Elementary School, where Richmond has been employed as a custodian for decades, is conducting “Petals for Mr. Penny,” a Mother’s Day-themed plant sale this week to raise money to help pay his mounting medical expenses, Principal Jackie Greenwood said.

T-shirts bearing his likeness and inscribed with the word “priceless” are also being sold to raise funds.

“We’ve raised nearly $1,000,” Greenwood said.

Greenwood said a plant will be presented to Richmond’s mother, Dora Lockhart, in his honor and that the school’s 2012 yearbook has been dedicated to him. The school will host a “Picnic for Penny” at 11 a.m. May 18 as another fundraiser.

The city school board extended Richmond’s leave through the end of his contract on June 30, Greenwood said.

“While he (Mr. Penny) is known in the community, he’s also a part of the Dean Road family,” Greenwood said.

Marenda Richmond said her father is aware of that and the community response.

“He knows that people are thinking about him,” Marenda Richmond said.

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