and Remo shared their plan with Lucy. It thrilled them to see how excited she was over it. The little girl loved the homeless people they visited. She knew them all, feeling as though she had family all over the city. And now she would get to do something important for them. Brimming with enthusiasm, Lucy was eager to find a house that would serve as a shelter and made her sense of urgency known.
“You know,” Remo remarked, “most ten-year-old girls want to go clothes shopping, but not you. You’re more excited about buying a place to help your friends out than getting stuff for yourself. How did you get to be so special?”
Lucy jumped on top of Remo, sitting on the sofa. “From you and Alessa.” She giggled. Then her young face turned serious. “And because I know what it’s like to be homeless. It really sucks, Remo. It really, really sucks. You never know if you’re going to have food or will have to go hungry, and some people are mean to you because you’re not as lucky as they are. They look at you funny and it makes you feel like something is wrong with you.”
Remo got up from the sofa and pulled out the telephone book. “Let’s see here. Yeah, there it is.” He picked up the phone and dialed the number.
Alessa and Lucy looked on and listened to his side of the exchange.
“Hello, my name is Remo,” he said into the phone. “I’m looking for a realtor who can help me find a multi-family property. Yes, I can. Well, I live right down the block from your office. Yep, we can meet you in thirty minutes. Great, I appreciate your help. See you soon. Bye.”
Remo turned to the two women in his life. “Okay,” he said decisively, “the realtor can see us in thirty minutes. Let’s do it.”
They all cheered and went to their rooms to get ready for the appointment.
***
A fifteen-minute discussion with the realtor and they were off to see row homes scattered throughout the city. They visited several, one after another, and by the time they retreated to their apartment, it was one confusing blur. The three agreed after further debate they hadn’t found the right place yet.
But after seeing several homes the next day, they’d found the perfect place. It was a three-story row home, and they set their hearts on it the moment they entered it. A large two-bedroom apartment occupied the top floor. It had been recently renovated, with hardwood floors throughout. Lucy went crazy at the thought that if they bought it, she would have a bathroom all to herself. Alessa and Remo loved the place. There was also a large, open kitchen and a cozy living room. What the three of them loved the most, though, was the space on the first and second floors. There were three two-bedroom apartments on each floor, and while they were much smaller than the one on the top floor, they would comfortably house four to six people.
Before they left, Remo and Alessa made an offer to buy it.
Back at home, they talked endlessly about all the things they could do and the people they could help. An hour later, the telephone rang and Remo answered it. Alessa and Lucy clung to each other tensely, watching his expression for a sign that their offer had been accepted. The girls waited for some indication from him that the house was now theirs to live in. But Remo’s face was stony and emotionless.
When he hung up, he turned to them with a downturned mouth. “Pack your bags. We got it,” he announced matter-of-factly.
The girls shrieked with delight and ran to hug him. Knowing from personal experience what a blessing the shelter would be for some homeless people who had become their friends, Alessa and Lucy could hardly contain their excitement and their joy.
The next two months flew by, as they prepared to move into their new home. Their next big responsibility involved the selection of the people who would live there. So many homeless needed housing, and the house they had bought could accommodate only thirty-six residents. Alessa decided they would give priority to women and children. Six in each apartment would be tight, but she knew it was a better option than the streets or the “typical” homeless shelters that existed in the city. The three agreed not to discuss the matter with their homeless friends until they had figured out who would live in their shelter. They came up with three criteria to help them in their decision. The residents would have to be women under the age of twenty-one. Once they moved in, they would either have to work or go to school. And they could only live there until they were twenty-one. Alessa felt this was the only fair way to decide. The idea was to get younger people off the streets and back into school or working, so they could learn to financially support themselves. This new home, as she visualized it, would be a place to rest, between heaven and hell. She couldn’t give them everything, and she couldn’t help everyone, but she could make a difference—thirty-six people at a time.
When the day of settlement on the new home arrived, they were all excited. After closing, they drove to the property and buzzed through the house.
“This is the greatest moment of my life!” Alessa told Remo. Her excitement was that of a child on Christmas morning who had come downstairs to see what Santa had left her. “Next to finding you and Lucy, of course,” she added. “Now, let’s go upstairs and see our new digs.”
