Like many people who have lived in and around Oakland for any length of time, Sharon Alexander had driven by many homeless encampments in the past. Still, there was a day four years ago when Sharon didn’t just drive by. For some reason, she stopped.
“I thought to myself, 'I wonder if they are hungry,'” Sharon said. “I went to the Kentucky Fried Chicken and bought 100 pieces of chicken and bought some of the juice and all that stuff, got some plates and it was a hit.”
It was such a hit that Sharon began to regularly donate warm, home-cooked meals to the homeless every Sunday night. It was immediately clear to Sharon what the benefit was to the homeless she was feeding but she soon started to realize what it was it was doing for her. “I feel like I’ve found my purpose in life,” Sharon said.
“They're giving their love and respect and we're giving it back. We just happened to have a hot meal to give to them every Sunday,” Sharon said.
Sharon eventually decided to make the operation official, calling it Arthur Jean Safe Place, named after Sharon’s late mother who she remembers as a “giver.”
But life began to change for Sharon starting last fall, and not in a good way.
Her long-time partner, Ron, passed away in November, and then in January, she was forced to leave the home they had shared together for 12 years. Suddenly, Sharon was not just someone who helped the homeless, she was now homeless herself.
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“That was devastating,” said Sharon, who is now sleeping on friends’ couches and in her own car with her 18-year-old grandson.
In spite of all that, Sharon has not missed a week providing meals. Relying on donations and the use of a friend’s kitchen, Sharon is continuing to provide homecooked meals to the homeless, even though she is now without a home.
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“I'm not going to let this take away my smile. I'm not going to let this take me to where I'm going to feel sorry for myself and give up,” said Alexander.
“When I go out there it's like I take everything I am going through, push it to the side and it's like I'm in a whole another world because giving where you can and when you can even if it's just one moment in time it's a beautiful feeling."
