homeless

Nicole Sedgebeer found herself stranded in London after missing the last train home. She didn't know what to do (besides burst into tears) until a homeless man named Mark helped her out. 

She explains on her Facebook post that she never expected someone like Mark to come to her aide:

I hope this story makes people look twice when they see a homeless person. Last night I missed my last train home and when I finally got to Euston to wait till the morning, the station was locked. Just as I was about to burst into drunken tears I met my homeless friend Mark. He said he would take me to a cafe that was open as it was too dangerous to walk by myself. He left me after a coffee and a chat and explained that he had to go get his sleeping bag but he would be back at 5 to walk me back to the station. (Me being a typical bitch didn't believe he would come back) It got past 5 and he was a no show. As I got round the corner my homeless friend Mark was running down the street towards me. Not only did he turn up but he had to get a bus to come get me. This man who I probably would of avoided eye contact with if he asked for spare change, completely changed such a negative event into the most eye opening event in my life. Mark you are one special man, I will never look down on a homeless person again ❤ This was also his first ever selfie!

The busking musician detailed the encounter and his cause: 

I went out busking in Leeds on New Year's Eve and, after a while, was joined by a homeless man in a wheelchair who asked if he could sing with me. As a busker, I spend a lot of time on the streets and had seen this man many times over the years, but didn't know he was singer, and, as the years had gone by, his health and wellbeing seemed to have worsened a great deal. We jammed out a version of 'Summertime' and I was blown away by his voice so I stopped a passerby and asked them to capture the moment on my camera phone and then uploaded the video to my Facebook page where it quickly went viral as thousands of people shared it.

My spontaneous street jam with Bernard Davey was a soul-affirming, enriching experience which summed up everything I love about street culture. The streets are full of wonderful surprises and stories. I hope Bernard's amazing improvised version of 'Summertime' helps people to remember not to judge people they see on the streets according to their appearances, but to always look below the surface appearance and find the person underneath.

Moments like these are why I founded the Keep Streets Live Campaign, a not for profit organisation which advocates for public spaces which are open to informal offerings of art and music and campaigns against the criminalisation of homelessness and street culture.

In addition, there are many wonderful charities that work with homeless and vulnerably housed including Inn Churches which provides emergency accommodation for the homeless in churches during the cold winter months and intercepts food waste to give to the hungry. I am doing a sponsored sober year in 2016 to raise funds for them and you can find out more and make a donation.

This McDonald's employee definitely wasn't lovin' it.

The company told reporters Wednesday that an employee captured in a video luring a homeless man to the drive-through window in Detroit with a hamburger, and then throwing water in his face, has been fired.

"Hey, Willie. Come here. You want a sandwich?" the unnamed employee can be heard yelling before throwing the cup of water.

McDonald's franchisee Wise Finley said he was disturbed by the "inappropriate" incident and took action to fire the employee.

"This type of behavior is not tolerated in my organization. I expect my employees to treat everyone with dignity and respect, and this was unacceptable," Finley told the Detroit Free Press.

Warning: Some language and truth bombs in this video.

Five-year-old Josiah Duncan asked his mother about the disheveled man at a nearby table in a Waffle House in Alabama. Aftear learning about homelessness for the first time, he begged his mother to buy him a meal. At this point, pretty much everyone in the establishment was cutting onions (not that we are either, no not us not at all).

Alright, seriously, maybe it's time we stopped making fun of her ridiculous youthful antics and all that.