Two homeless men are safe and secure tonight in hotels in Beaumont and Liberty thanks to a group of Liberty County residents who donated to a Go Fund Me account that was set up Saturday by John Addison, a manager of Liberty-Dayton Chrysler.
One of the two men, who lives on the streets in Liberty, is an acquaintance of Addison’s mother-in-law, Liberty Police Lt. Elaine Taylor. The other she crossed paths with over the weekend while shopping in Beaumont.
“My daughter and I were out shopping for supplies for the storm and saw a man standing in the rain with his dog. He was huddled in a corner and security at the building were making him leave,” Taylor explained. “We found a place for him to stay for a few nights but I just didn’t have the money to cover it.”
By Saturday afternoon, Addison had created a Go Fund Me account to raise money to help both men. Overnight the goal was reached with $1,700 in donations coming in from a dozen or so people.
“We were able to secure enough funds to carry them through the weekend. Pending any changes in weather, we might have to work something out for more days,” said Taylor, adding her gratitude for the donors who pitched in to help.
Not one to seek the spotlight, Taylor agreed to discuss the community effort in the hopes that it would encourage other acts of kindness.
“I know there are a lot of people who may say different things about helping the homeless but I know it would only take one major thing for me to end up in a situation like this,” Taylor said.
A cancer survivor, Taylor says she does not know where she would be today if she had not received support from the community during her cancer treatments.
“I just think it’s so easy to be kind in an unkind world, so why shouldn’t we be?” she said. “You never know when you are entertaining angels here on earth. If I was in their situation, I would hope that someone would have mercy on me.”
Taylor has tremendous gratitude to the people who chipped in for the Go Fund Me account for the two homeless men.
“When God places people on your heart, you can’t run from it. You have to do what He has orchestrated for you to do. I am thankful to live in a community that is so willing to step up to help,” she said.