It only took a minute to do the right thing, didn't it? It'* always nice reading those things...

I actually met a homeless man a while back and decided to help. I first met John, while making my daily bank deposits for the company I work for.

When I met John, he was standing there with a milk crate and a box of dirty rags offering up shoe shines for .50 each. I started to talk with him about anything in general.

I asked John where he was staying at night since it was starting to get cold, and he replied "under the bridge" which happens to be right by my work. My heart sunk. I asked him why he and his wife didnt go to the shelter. He replied that his things would get stolen while he slept, or he would end up in a fight because the other homeless men would be drunk when showing up at the shelter for the night.

I was thinking of ways that I could help John and his wife make it through the cold nights and thought about the two adult sized sleeping bags that I had used all but once, that were sitting in my closet. After I got out of work, I grabbed up the sleeping bags, loaded them into my car, and drove down to the bridge to deliver them. As I was looking around to find out where John was, I heard him call out to me and I walked over to him to give him the sleeping bags. He and his wife were very appreciative.

Over the next few days, I had seen John trying to improve upon his shoe shining business. He now had an old bar stool that someone gave him so that he could offer up a more comfortable seat for any potential customers. One day John mentioned how tough it was to get around with his bar stool and how he wished he had a two wheeler to make things easier.

Not long afterwards, my company which had two locations in boston, moved to one location. We ended up with allot of duplicate items including an extra two wheeler that wasnt being used. I immediately thought of John.

The next time I walked through to make my bank deposits, I had the two wheeler in tow. I stopped by where John was set up for the day and talked with him as usuall and then let him have the two wheeler. John was very thankful and offered me free shoe shines in return for the two wheeler.

I told him that I would take him up on his offer sometime.

As time went on, and I got to know John more, I continued to help him out with little things that he otherwise couldnt afford. I printed up business cards on card stock, I gave him a few bucks when I had it, and I even told him to come by the office if he ever needed a hot cup of coffee, which he never came, but the offer was still there.

During one of my many visits to him, John was telling me that he signed up for Section 8 housing and how he hoped that they would help him since he was homeless. Over the next several months, John and his wife were approved for section 8 housing and soon after that, got off the streets.

Sad part is, I havent seen him since and I think of him every now and then hoping that he never has to fight with homelessness again. I am very happy and proud of myself for helping him out when I could even though I had my own struggles in life, none of which were near as bad as John and his wife had it.

I'm sure that he still thinks of the little things Ive done for him and im glad that I could reach out and help him during those tough times.

Since then, I try to give what I can to the homeless when I see them.

P.*. The name of his shoe shine busines was "On the Spot Shoe shine" Clever....Clever!!

Awesome story Tony.
That is what I am talking about.
None of that cost you much at all, and I am sure you made a huge difference for John.
Glad to hear things worked out for him. As I was reading, I was fearful your story would have an unhappy ending. Guess that is just a result of all of the negativity in the world now.

Allot of the time, when you dont see a homeless person around anymore it because they passed away.

Im glad that wasnt the case with John. Someday when I least expect it, im sure I'll bump into him again.

Good one Tony.

That is exactly what I was thinking

There was another time, when I was a kid growing up in NY. I used to hang out by the tressel by my home as people would dump things there that made great furnishings for me and my friends clubhouses. So one day im out and about and me and my friend stop by this area under the tressel and see a couch all covered with cardboard. Since I couldnt jump on the furniture at home, I decided to get up on this one and jump a little bit. when I went from one end of the couch to the other, I saw a pair of sneakers, that happened to be still attached to Feet!!

I ran like a bat out of Hell as I thought I just discovered a dead body!! I didnt even say anything to my friend, I just RAN. My friend catches up and Im standing there about a block away trying to catch my breath from from running. Next thing I see, is a man come out with the WTF expression on his face. I went back and said Sorry for jumping on him.

He really didnt pay me no mind and went back under the tressel. That night when I went home, I told my mother and father my story and they laughed at me.

After dinner that night, I asked my mother if I could take a plate of food to him. she gave me one of the beat up plastic tupperware containers and filled it with leftovers. I brought it to him the next day when I was with my friend again so I wouldnt get kidnapped or anything. That was the one and only time i brought him food.

It kinda freaked me out a little bit and the guy did seem a bit strange.

That would be strange as a kid.
It is a shame children have to see that.
Not that they should be hidden from the reality of this world, but that that is a realty of this world.

Tony, I really liked your story about John. I'm glad he and his wife have found a place to live, and hopefully someday you will run into him somewhere so you know how he is doing.

Leslie, I'm hoping I see him sometime too!!

This thread was a perfect opportunity to share my story. I know sometimes it may not seem it, but I try and help people when I can who are in need. Not so much for pity or feeling bad for them, just to let them know that some people still care.

Brian, yes it was strange seeing that as a kid, scary actually. But my parents never led me to think the world was something it wasn't. They raised me the best they could with what they had, as I do with my son. I was brought up around church, and my parents did allot to help the community as well.

My mother, who volunteers for the Salvation Army in Brockton, used to run their soup kitchen, and I would go every now and then to help put together food pantry packages for people. Its been around me most of my life so for me to help out is nothing big for me. It comes natural actually, and I dont expect anything in return, except for the warm feeling that I just helped make someones day a little better, even though I may not have solved their problems.