Couple Invited Homeless Woman To Live With Them

Philip and Jane would see Ana living on the street, but she wasn’t like anyone else. She always had a hoodie on and didn’t ask for any help. One day they were walking the dog and she reached out to pet him. This time Ana said she was thirsty and asked for $1.50 to get water. The couple only had a $5 bill and when they went to give it to her, she was very reluctant. She only wanted the $1.50, but ended up taking it.

💓

A couple weeks later, the couple sees her again but this time, they spark a conversation. They found out Ana’s story, where she came from, that she was divorced and had a 22 year old daughter.  She lost her job in early 2008, then lost her house in Lemon Grove, her pickup truck and wound up living on the streets. Ever since then, she has struggled to get back on her feet.

After introducing themselves and getting to know Ana, they would always stop and say hi. They found her intelligent, a good conversationalist with a surprising sense of humor — surprising, Faker said, because “we couldn’t imagine anyone living on the street finding humor in anything.” They also found out that she suffered from schizophrenia , which is very common among people who live on the street.

According to a survey done in January, about 40 percent of San Diego county’s homeless report having a serious mental illness.

💓

Eventually , the couple noticed that Ana didn’t have as much energy as usual. She wouldn’t eat much at restaurants , and it seemed that living on the streets started to take its toll. One day she called them from a grocery store after she collapsed in the restroom. Philip came to get her and took her straight the hospital. That’s when they found out she had stage IV colon cancer.

💓

She “overstayed her welcome with family”, so Philip and Jane invited her to move into their Jamul home. They offered her an upstairs bedroom, but she insisted on sleeping on the couch. She loved seeing the hummingbirds, rabbits and the gorgeous canyon view. They started reading more about schizophrenia to get a better understanding of what to expect.  Ana lived another 7 months and the couple really misses her. Now, they have dedicated their time to helping Ana’s daughter Tiara. Tiara wants to go to college and possibly work in forensics for the FBI. Philip started a go fund me to “help Tiara 

thrive”.

💓

What a heart warming story that reminds us to have faith in humanity. We’re all in this together 💓