Story of a woman at the shelter
An old frail lady with white hair mixed with grey, sat quietly among the rest of the 60 homeless people waiting for food. Her eyes and her quite demeanor, full of sadness and pain caught my attention. I went up to her and asked her if I could sit next to her. She smiled meagerly and said, "sure" and continued to look down. Reluctantly she mentioned to me that she has a job interview in a week and she is going to wear a very nice suit donated to her by someone. I asked her how I can help her, what does she need? She replied, still not looking into my eyes, "I'm OK, I don't need anything." And then there was silence for few more seconds and then I asked her again, "Do you need makeup or hair products or lotions etc.?", immediately she looked up with a little sparkle in her sad, tired, weighed down eyes and said, "yes please hair spray and hair clips will be nice!" Last Sunday when I went back to the shelter, I went up to her and handed her a very nice black purse full of goodies like perfume, hair spray, deodorant stick, chap sticks, face and body lotion, hand sanitizer, wipes etc....she reluctantly took the purse and asked me if all of that was for her? I told her that all of that was for her and even the purse! For the first time her eyes lit up and she exclaimed with joy "I'm going to smell so good and look so pretty!!!" I smiled and said, "Of course you are!" and then I grabbed her by her shoulders and looked into her eyes and said, "I want you to know that I'm your friend and I'm here for you if you need anything!" And the second I said that, tears started to roll down her beautiful face and she hugged me tightly and started to weep silently, whispering...thank you, thank you, thank you! And now I want to say thank you, thank you, thank you to all of you who donated to our cause “Homeless in Dc” and made this possible. We not only feed the homeless but we feed our souls and at this point it's very clear to me that my purpose is not only helping the homeless but creating and wave of positivity and goodness in the community and giving everyone an opportunity to help however they can. Join me and my team of volunteers and become part of one family.
