“I have terminal cancer and nowhere to go.”
I’ve heard those exact words from three different people in the past week.
“We didn’t have a plan for this. We were living with mom, then she passed away last fall... and then I got sick.”
This is becoming more common in communities across the country. So many people are living right on the edge that one unexpected life event can change everything. Illness. Fire. Flood. Job loss. Relationship collapse. A death in the family. Sometimes all it takes is one hard turn.
It’s easy to scroll past stories like this because they feel heavy. And it’s easy to wonder, “What can I really do?”
Maybe we can’t fix every broken system overnight. But we can choose compassion today. We can notice people. We can speak kindly. We can advocate for someone having a hard moment.
The person sleeping in a car may be carrying more than we know. The person holding luggage in an unusual place may not be traveling. They may be surviving.
A small act of kindness can go further than you think. A conversation. A smile. A gift card to a place with a restroom, coffee, food, or a little space to rest. An offer to help connect someone to resources. Dignity often begins in practical ways.
Be intentional with how you react to people in public. Better yet, be intentional with how you interact. Do it wisely. Do it safely. Bring a friend if needed. But choose humanity.
Because you truly never know what someone is carrying.