A.J. clutched tightly the purple and gold hoodie that he had found in the teen section of the clothing bank. In his other hand, he carried a bag with two pairs of jeans and one pair of almost new basketball shoes.
“I could use some shirts and maybe some socks,” he admitted quietly to a volunteer. “Could you show me where to look for them?”
Quietly and in spurts, the teen told part of his story to the kind man who was helping him. It seems that A.J.’s family had been evicted the week before after his mom had missed the second rent payment. A.J. and his two younger brothers had come home from school to find the front door locked. All of their things were locked inside.
“I don’t mind sleeping in the car, but I don’t want my friends to know what happened to us.”
A brief conversation with A.J.’s mom confirmed his story. Thanks to the generosity of its donors, St Francis House was able to use its emergency assistance fund to place the family in a local motel and to find help for them.
As the family left the clothing bank, A.J. sought out the volunteer who had helped him. “Thanks for helping my mom,” he said. “I just didn’t know what to do for her.”