Last week, as I finished inspecting the street in front of our church building, Jenny, a homeless woman I know, came running up to me very agitated, flailing her arms shouting, Allen Allen you’ve got to do something a woman lost her purse and Douglas has it and won’t let it go and you need to call the lady who lost it I’ve heard of her she is a big attorney and she has to get her purse back its got all her ID in it and a phone and money and Allen you’ve got to do something you know Douglas, he'll take everything!…
Jenny is a homeless woman who forty-something. I don’t know much about her past except that she had a more-or-less normal life until a terrible auto accident about ten years ago. Jenny suffered permanent brain damage and, as a result of other injuries, walks with a severe limp. She also has a pronounced scar from a tracheotomy. Jenny is rather child-like in many ways, perhaps as a result of the brain damage she suffered. She does not use drugs or alcohol, but she is the constant companion of a guy, Douglas, who is an alcoholic and a petty thief. Douglas is kind of a “street rat,” most often intoxicated to some degree, very loud-mouthed and usually can be found begging (Called “flying a sign” by street people) at the Fourth Avenue off-ramp.
I looked across the street and there sat Douglas with a cardboard sign and a large purple purse at his side. I walked over to him, picked up the purse and said, Thank you Douglas for guarding this purse--that was very good of you. I’m going to go over to the church and see if I can’t contact the owner. Thanks again for being such a good and honest citizen Douglas. I think Douglas was shocked into silence by my little speech and how quickly his fortunes had changed. However, as I walked back across the street Douglas found his voice and shouted, “I want a reward!”
Back over at the church I thanked Jenny and told her that, if there were any reward, it would all go to her.
While looking through the purse for the owner’s contact information, we noticed that every pocked and section of it contained little wads of cash—here fifty, there eighty and so on--several hundred in total, at least. After a number of phone calls we confirmed the owner’s address—not far from the church—and made arrangements to deliver it to here there. Later, on the phone, she expressed great relief at getting her purse back in perfect condition with nothing missing. I let her know that her thanks really belong to Jenny, the homeless woman who rescued her purse and was so intent on getting it back to its rightful owner. The woman asked me if I thought one-hundred dollars would be an appropriate reward. I said I thought it was just right. A couple of days later the woman made good on her pledge, stopping off at the church office to drop off the cash for Jenny. She also wrote out a chuck to ladle Fellowship for twenty-five dollars.
This Sunday I expect to see Jenny and give her the reward money. With it, Jenny might be able to get out of our current rainy conditions and into a hotel room for a few days.
All’s well that ends well!
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