Every Monday night we feed the homeless on the streets of downtown San Diego.

“Patricia gladly gave socks to Henry.”

Tonight we saw the homeless helping the homeless in an amazing act of kindness.

Socks for the Homeless – Patricia Gave Socks to Henry

We meet Patricia on the streets downtown near 16th Street and Island Avenue. We’ve know Patricia for years and she often asks us to pray for her which we do. Several times we have asked her to join us in passing out food bags as we always do on every Monday night. Although she always accepts a bag with a sandwich, water and snacks she declines to walk with us and pass out food to her fellow homeless people.

Tonight when we spoke to her another homeless person, named Henry, approached us and asked us if we had any socks. Often we do have socks to pass out, as one of our corporate sponsors is the California Sock Company, but tonight we were not passing socks out. Henry looked tired and cold. Looking down he had bare feet with no shoes or socks. A few of us were ready to pull our own socks off our feet, but before we could even offer, Patricia pulled out a bright, new pair of white socks from her bag and offered it to Henry.

It was a great moment because it was big sacrifice – socks are one of the biggest requests the homeless ask of us. Everyone praised Patricia for caring for Henry and he gave her a big hug. Both of them were almost in tears over the human kindness of two people in a hard situation.

Seeing the joy on both of their faces is one of the great things to expect when serving the homeless on the streets of San Diego.

Photo of Homeless Woman Patricia Giving Socks to Henry

Click the photo for a larger picture. (Notice how both Patricia and Henry are almost in tears.)