Last week, a homeless woman walked into our shop at work searching for help. She appeared to be partially nude and clearly in some sort of pain. Being the only female around, I walked down to see what she needed.

Her name is Jasmine.

Columbia has a huge homeless population, and it’s only getting worse because of COVID. There’s a park down the street from the office, where up to 30-40 each day, weather permitting, sit and sleep. I drive by this park daily, often times early in the morning before the rest of the world is waking up.

I see this people every day and wonder what their stories are, but never took the time to walk down there and ask.

Jasmine would change all that for me.

A month ago, Jasmine was in a car accident and sustained severe burns to her legs. As she hobbled into the shop, it was clear her bandages were coming off and needed to be changed.

She was hot, tired and in pain.

She was looking for a jump start for her friend’s vehicle so she could drive her to a clinic and get new dressings.

I quickly got my coworker and we headed toward the vehicle. As we slowly walked toward the car, a barefoot Jasmine shared her story with me a little. She was from TX, and prior to the accident was pregnant. AS a result of the trauma from the accident, she had given birth to a son named Michael. He was staying with family while Jasmine got back on her feet.

As I said goodbye to her, I asked her if I could prayer for her. She said yes. As I started walking back to my office, I was overcome with so much emotion. I could feel her pain and desperation as we walked together. I knew that I had to do something.

The next day, I saw Jasmine sitting by herself at one of the tables at the park. She was by herself so I took the opportunity to see if she had received the care she needed.

She lit up when she saw me.

I said, “I hope I’m not bothering you, but you really touched me yesterday and I wanted to come by and see if you were ok.”

“I’m glad that you did, because I was going to try and find you and thank you for helping me yesterday,” Jasmine said. “Not may people help us so it meant a lot to me what you did.”

She had new bandages on her legs and was feeling much better. We sat and talked for about 15 minutes like we were new friends getting to know each other. I noticed she had colored Sharpie markers on the table next to her and a notebook

“Do you like to color?” I asked.

“Yes ma’am,” Jasmine said.

“Would it be okay if I bought you one of those adult coloring books?” I asked.

“I would like that very much,” she said.

I told Jasmine that I wanted to help her if she was willing to let me. She obliged and gave me a wish list of items that she would like, include a pair of shoes.

A pair of shoes!

You guys…she has been walking around barefoot or a pair of house slippers that belonged to her husband (that’s a whole other story). This is when I leaned it and made the decision to listen to what my heart and God were telling me.

I told my husband that I was going shopping over the weekend to find some items for my new friend. He didn’t argue with me.

Sunday night, the kids and I put together a bag for Jasmine and some care packages for the people of the Field Park.

This morning (Monday), I dropped off a few things to Jasmine and a couple other people. They were very grateful.

So why am I sharing this with you?

It’s to draw awareness to a situation that is only going to continue to get worse. If I can do a little something to help, I’m going to. I encourage you to do the same.

The Greeks used to say that people in need were the ambassadors of the Gods, sent to test our compassion and understanding.

Creating hope in someone is a very powerful thing, too.

“Sometimes all it takes is one person to make a difference. Hope is the most powerful force in the universe. With hope you can inspire nations to greatness. With hope you can raise up the downtrodden. We will all find ourselves neck deep in mud someday. That is the time to sing loudly, to smile broadly, to lift up those around you and give them hope that tomorrow will be a better day.” – Admiral William McRaven from Make Your Bed: Little Things That Can Change Your Life…and Maybe the World

Get involved in your community!

The End

Aunt Bubba