Feed the Homeless: Louis - 37 years old.

Red Deer, Alberta. Sunday May 4th, 2013 - Outside temperature: +9° C.

On a sunny afternoon in Red Deer, around the Greyhound station, Louis was sitting on the side of the street begging for money. I stopped by and we started chatting about his day. One thing led to the other, he asked for money and I offered him a meal instead ... he agreed. So we hop in the car and I drove to the closest mall. It was few blocks away, not far.

We head inside to grab a bite to eat. We ended up getting Subway and and sit down to eat in the food court. He initiated the conversation actually by asking me about why am I doing this. I explained to him Feed the Homeless' initiative and his respond was: "To know that someone cares is the main thing I guess. People ignore us all the time and most of us on the street don't have anyone."

When it was my turn to ask questions, I asked about his childhood and how he became a homeless, his respond was: "It all started when I was 15, my dad who used to beat us (my mom and my two younger brothers) left the house and I started using drugs to make me feel better, and it did. I regret it now but it's too late, I know what you are going to say". I responded with nothing.

I ask him my regular question: "Louis, if you had three wishes, what would they be?" he said: “Get a steady job somewhere, see my two brothers often, and meet my dad”. I'll have to say the latter give the shivers when he said it ... but he meant it in a good way. We wrap it up, I offered him a ride back, he said he would prefer to walk instead. We shook hands, I wished him a good evening, and he wished me a safe trip back to Edmonton.

Stay tuned for another story next month! You can follow this blog here or "Like" the Facebook page "Feed the Homeless Day" to stay in the loop.

Disclaimer: This picture is from google.