“Are you okay?”
Some people will say that the most powerful three-word English sentence is “I love you.” But for others, the words “Are you okay?” extend that helping hand, the invitation, or the deliberate action that can change someone else’s life for the better.
These are also the first three words these two best friends uttered when they approached a woman in a Target parking lot. Jennifer Husband-Elsier and Melissa Akacha noticed that she had most of her belongings in her small Mercedes Benz SUV together with her two dogs.
The woman, 70-year-old Lynn Schutzman, insisted that she was fine, but the two ladies knew that there’s more to her story.
Soon enough, they found out that Schutzman was homeless.
The retired pharmacist suffered numerous illnesses after the sudden passing of her husband. They resulted in mountains of hospital bills that she struggled to pay off. To survive, she had to sell her home and move her life into her car.
Unfortunately for the senior, she didn’t qualify for affordable housing and homeless shelters do not allow dogs.
This left her with no choice but to camp in the superstore’s parking lot.
Husband-Elsier and Akacha refused to walk away without doing anything, especially when they knew more of her story. They took to social media to ask for more information and to raise awareness that a member of their community was homeless.
Schutzman had “gone completely unnoticed” because she wanted the community to believe that she was okay. She was driving a Benz, which would make people think she has money. But in reality, she saved money every month just so she could stay for a night in a motel and take her “monthly” shower.
And sometimes, when people put up a façade, all they need is someone who will knock and extend that helping hand.
To help her get on her feet, Husband-Elsier and Akacha set up a GoFundMe for Schutzman. And once word got out about the homeless senior, support poured in from the community. Neighbors brought spare clothes and blankets. Some of them brought food for Schutzman and her dogs. Others donated money so they could find a place for her to stay.
Their King of Prussia community wanted Schutzman to feel that it’s okay to ask for help. That someone will lend a hand when you find yourself on your knees.
Within ten days the community raised enough money to rent a studio apartment for two years.
Neighbors pitched in furniture, painted her walls, and even took care of her dogs. It was a miracle that turned Schutzman’s life around.
“It wouldn’t have happened without these angels,” Schutzman told ABC News. “I just want people to realize that this can happen to anybody. … I had a good job. I had good retirement but I got sick and health insurance only covers so much. … I have no children. I have no family. .. I had nowhere to turn. Sometimes, you know, just the kindness of strangers just makes all the difference in someone’s life.”
Husband-Elsier told ABC News that it was not just them who made an impact. All they did was ask if she was okay. But those three words started an avalanche of compassion and kindness and taught a woman that a community looks after one another.
Watch how two best friends changed a homeless woman’s life with just three words in the video below!
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