“‘So you are the people that want teenagers… are you crazy?’ I said, ‘Something like that.’ She replied, ‘Well, I got a phone call in your driveway for a 16-year-old male who needs a home by tonight.’ I told her, ‘Bring him home.’ My husband looked at me like I was crazy. But he agreed. ‘She’s right, bring him home.’”
‘I’ve never had real parents before. I’ve waited my entire life to be treated the way y’all treat me.’: Couple adopts 18-year-old who was ‘abandoned by his birth mother with no name’
‘At my lowest point, I snapped and bought a gun. I was almost a school shooter.’: Man overcomes abusive childhood, bullying, ‘Kindness stopped me from doing the worst thing imaginable’
“When you’ve been told you’re ‘worthless’ enough times, you’ll believe it. I had no home and often slept outdoors. The isolation and bullying became unbearable. I wanted to feel an emotion other than pain. I wanted to feel, for once, like I was in control. If I’d possessed a rifle, I would have been a killer. If I’d known love, I would have never wanted a rifle.”
‘I was SO nervous the morning of the surprise. I felt like I was back in high school, about to give a dreadful speech. I watched my recycling driver cry tears of joy. The burden was instantly lifted.’
“I thought that would be it. I was wrong. What is a mundane task to many is a big deal around here.”
‘I kept my pregnancy a secret. I knew coming home from the war would be tough, but I expected him to be a better father. He started drinking and blaming me.’
“I was working full time, coming home to a 2-year-old, while his dad played video games. My initial thought was ‘How??’ I saved the test to show their father. But that never happened. So I sent him a message. Straight to the point. ‘I’m pregnant.’ He packed all of his stuff, and was just gone.”
‘The police said, ‘If she gets caught using drugs, THEN it’s our problem.’ My sister was missing and vulnerable. I just wanted her back.’: Woman searches 20 years for addicted sister, ‘In looking for her, I lost myself’
“I heard my mother shout, ‘Your sister is missing! We have no idea where she is!’ I got on the next plane, determined to find her myself. Because of her mental state and drug addiction, it didn’t seem to matter to others. We were told, ‘Maybe she doesn’t want to be found.’”
‘Girl with the dog, girl with the dog!’ I was homeless, suicidal. I walked into hell and found an angel. Her name is Sharon.’: Woman battling mental illness thanks strangers for saving her life
“I take the pills in my hand and go to swallow them, but something stops me. Cindy, my dog. I can’t leave her yet. For thirteen days, Cindy and I are homeless. ‘SOMEONE HELP US!’ I am coming undone. A woman steps forward, waving a flier wildly in my face. I suddenly feel HOPE.”
‘He was my first baby. Sometimes I think, hell, just OD already. I didn’t raise you this way. I wait for that final phone call. Then I hate myself even more.’
“My son is homeless, living on the street, with who knows how little warm clothing. Is he even still alive? I drive by his haunts. He hangs out by my work neighborhood often. How does that make me feel? Like he wants to be close, but oh so far away.”
‘Suddenly the officer sits down, pulls out lunch. He not only takes away your hunger, but your loneliness too.’: Woman touched by officer’s act of kindness for homeless man, ‘We are all just human’
“Everything you own fits in a backpack. You look up to see a uniformed officer walking towards you. Your mind flutters thinking of everything you might be doing wrong. I don’t know this man or this officer, but what I do know is today they made a difference.”
‘Dad, what is homeless?’ I said, ‘It’s when you don’t have food to eat.’ I thought this would be the end of the conversation.’ Little boy’s inspiring cross-country journey to feed the homeless
“He said, ‘They look hungry. Can we feed them?’ I paused because I really didn’t want my 4-year-old subjected to everything on the streets. He walked up and said, ‘Would you like a sandwich?’ At that point, I made the decision to do it once a week.”
‘I was walking alone at night. A man came out of the shadows. I instinctively stepped back.’: Woman reminds us to ‘simply be kind’ after eye-opening encounter with homeless man
“I instinctively took a step backward. I was telling myself if he asked for money, I could honestly tell him I had none and keep walking. But instead, he looked back into my eyes, and asked for something else. There was a moment of awkward silence as he fidgeted a bit and looked toward the door.”
