When Greg Smith regularly heard a homeless woman wish him a good morning and a great day, without asking for anything in return, he decided to start sharing his lunch with her every Tuesday.
“Meet “Amy Joe”,” Greg wrote. “For the last few weeks each Tuesday, Amy Joe and I meet at the corner of Pine street and S. Orange ave in downtown Orlando (I work downtown and am always moving around the city). Each day for about a week I saw Amy Joe at this corner and she never asked for money…she simply said “Good morning Sir, have a great day. God Bless!!” and smiled.”
“I wear a suit to work everyday so I get asked a lot for money quite often downtown…but never once from Amy Joe. Every Tuesday Amy Joe and I now have Lunch together. For 30 min to an hour I get to hear how positive she is even though she really has nothing.”
As their friendship developed, Amy shared a truth that melted Greg’s heart; that she can’t read.
“Last week Amy Joe kind of dropped a bomb on me…she cannot read. Amy Joe does not smoke, drink, have a drug addiction, or anything to that nature. She simply just has never had anyone teach her how to read. She told me how hard it was for her to find work not being able to read. She began to tell me any money that she can collect she uses to check out library books that help with learning to read instead of buying FOOD. This crushed me!!! She would rather learn to read to maybe find a job then eat!!!”
While Greg was blessed with two very loving and supportive parents, Amy Joe was not, and she has endured a very difficult life. Greg decided that he wanted to not only treat Amy Joe to lunch, but he wanted to teach her how to read.
“I have been blessed with two amazing parents and a family that has always had resources to provide me with anything I wanted to do. Amy Joe has not. So now not only do Amy Joe and I sit and have lunch, I’m teaching her to read. I rent one library book a week and we read it together Tuesday and she practices on her own throughout the rest of the week.”
Greg is not interested in praise, but is hoping to make a difference in Amy’s life and wanting to inspire others to take care of the homeless in their communities.
“This post is in no way to make anyone feel sorry for Amy Joe or brag about me doing something for someone less fortunate. I wanted to share this because maybe this can lead to someone helping another person. There are a lot of people out there like Amy Joe, not all are hungry, homeless, or hurt. Some could be your family or friends. Helping someone could be as easy as saying hello and smiling. I have been fortunate enough in my finances that I can take care of Amy Joe, so that’s what I’m going to do. If this is something that hit home with you, Like & Share it…if not, that’s okay too. But you never know what you can do for someone until you try. Who is your Amy Joe?!?!?”
Greg’s kind heart also took Amy Joe grocery shopping, out to get some new clothes, to get a stylish new haircut, and he even paid for her to begin living in a hotel.
“I said, ‘We’re gonna take a little walk’ since the hotel was three or four blocks away from the restaurant we were at,” Greg said.
By the time Amy Joe realized that he was taking her to treat her to a hotel room, she gasped and began to cry.
Thousands of hearts were touched by Greg’s kindness, and they also felt compassion for Amy Joe.
“The world needs more people like the two of you. Selfless people with kind souls. Good luck Amy Joe!”
commented Tiffany W.
“Tell Amy Joe we feed the homeless the 1..3..and 5 saturday every month at the greek orthodox church parking lot she is welcomed to eat breakfast and vet a lunch to go!!! And i have a box of books if she wants to practice with them I can meet her on saturdays and give her the book…. Most of then are mystery…and suspense i think someone gave them to me,” wrote Alicia H.
“How precious and sweet of you to help Amy Joe. She was blessed to meet you.(and in turn is a blessing to you.) Thank you so much for sharing your story and making my day. I will try to be a blessing to someone in return. ❤” commented Carol C.
Kind people began sending clothes, food and donations for Greg to donate to Amy Joe, and he setup the Amy Joe Foundation with a P.O. Box in order to help her.
Amy Joe told Greg that she’s excited and has been able to relax and take three showers.
“She said, ‘I’m so happy that we met’ and hugged me and said, ‘I love you,’” Greg shared.
When we take take just a little bit of our time to show love to the homeless in our communities, beautiful things can happen.
You are Loved.
See Also: She Used Her Lunch Break To Eat With A Homeless Man
