Greg Smith would often see homeless woman Amy Joe in downtown Orlando. She would always greet him with a friendly “Good morning,” a “God Bless” or another sunny greeting when they crossed paths. Though many of the homeless people Smith would encounter downtown would ask him for money, Amy Jo never once asked.
The two eventually became friends and would have lunch together every Tuesday.
Smith wrote a Facebook post that is now published on the Love What Matters Facebook page explaining that he would sit and listen to what a positive attitude she had even though she was homeless. He learned that she didn’t smoke, do drugs, or drink. The reason she was homeless is that she never learned how to read.
Here is the full text of the post:
“Meet ‘Amy Joe’. 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. 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!!! 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.”
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?!?!? Amy Jo explained that not being able to read prevents her from finding a job. So, Smith decided he would use their lunch date to teach her how to read.”
Smith explains that he decided to turn their lunch date into a reading date where he would teacher her how to read. Amy Jo was overjoyed to learn that she was going to teach her how to read.
After his post went viral, Smith decided to start a GoFundMe page to help benefit the homeless people in his community.
So far, the funds raised have put Amy Jo put in a hotel and have bought her groceries, according to ABC News. Amy Jo was shocked when Smith surprised her with the room and said she took three showers.
“She’s excited,” he said. “She said, ‘I’m so happy that we met’ and hugged me and said, ‘I love you. I’ve got a number of people working on trying to find her a place where she can stay for the rest of her life,” he added. “Hopefully a place where she can live and work.”
Smith says he plans to continue helping the homeless in his community “one person at a time.”
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