There are many reasons why people end up homeless and more than anything they deserve understanding and compassion.
Unfortunately, this often isn’t the case and for someone who is struggling mentally, and has an addiction they cannot get help for, one person’s cruel words can be enough to tip them over the edge.
Casey Fischer encountered a homeless man who was struggling with mental issues and instead of dismissing him, she did something that made a difference she could never have imagined.
Student Casey Fischer was on her way to Dunkin Donuts when she saw a homeless man picking up change off the floor.
As he walked into the sweet treat store with enough money for a donut, she started talking to him.
He made it obvious that he didn’t want to make conversation, but Casey persisted; she bought him a coffee and a bagel and asked him to sit down with her.
Drugs had been his downfall
As they both sat down to eat Casey found out that drugs had made the man, called Chris, a person he hated, and how he wasn’t used to people being nice to him.
Casey also discovered that he never knew his dad and even though he had lost his mom to cancer, he still wanted to become a man that his mom could be proud of.
https://www.facebook.com/photo.php?fbid=10210930784579979&set=a.1482686881514&type=3
Casey spent around an hour talking to Chris and would have stayed longer but realized she was going to be late for class so had to leave.
His story had moved Casey and in a Facebook post about the encounter she wrote, “Chris was one of the most honest & sincere people I’ve ever met.”
A crumpled piece of paper
When she told Chris she had to leave for class he asked her if she could stay for one more minute so he could write her a note.
He apologized for the shaky writing and then pushed it into her hand as if to let her know he wanted her to wait until he had gone before reading it.
After they had parted ways, Casey opened the crumpled piece of paper, upon which was written the words, “I wanted to kill myself today because of u I now do not. Thank u, beautiful person.”
today I went to Dunkin and saw a clearly homeless guy singing on the side of the road and picking up change. Eventually…
Posted by Casey Fischer on Wednesday, May 20, 2015
After sharing her moving meeting on Facebook, the post was shared more than 160,000 times.
It’s easy to judge homeless people and not want to help them but this story is a wonderful example of what happens if we spend time with the people who need it the most. It really could be the difference between life and death.
A kind gesture can mean the world to someone who is struggling.
Please share to pay tribute to this inspirational young woman.
