A Florida man who formed a friendship with a homeless woman taught her how to read.
Greg Smith, 25, walked past Amy Joe on his way to work every day for about a week. Joe never asked for money but always greeted him with, “Good morning sir, have a great day. God bless!”
The two eventually became friends and Smith started a GoFundMe campaign to help others like Joe.
“Every Tuesday Amy Joe and I now have lunch together,” Smith wrote. “For 30 min to an hour I get to hear how positive she is even though she really has nothing.”
Joe doesn’t smoke, drink, or do drugs, but she did reveal something shocking to Smith that caused him to take action: she cannot read well.
“She simply just has never had anyone teach her to read well,” Smith wrote. “She began to tell me any money that she can collect she uses to rent 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 [than] eat!!!”
Their lunches now included reading lessons given by Smith.
“I bring one book a week and we read it together Tuesday and she practices on her own throughout the rest of the week,” Smith wrote.
“She lit up! I could see in her face that she felt amazing,” Smith told ABC News.
Smith started the Amy Joe Foundation GoFundMe page to inspire others to help those in need.
“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,” Smith wrote. “If this is something that hit home with you, please donate to help the Amy Joe Foundation…if not, that’s okay too. But you never know what you can do for someone until you try.
“Who is your Amy Joe?!?!?”
To date, $8,980 has been raised by 321 people in 30 days with a goal of $10,000. The money will go toward food, clothing, a library card, and more to help those in need in the Orlando area.
“I want to be able to help anybody, whether it be giving them some food or clothes,” Smith told ABC News about the soon-to-be official foundation. “I don’t want to just narrow it down to helping people read because there’s so many other people that need more help.”
