Shortly after joining the Share board a few years ago I was on a business trip up in Anchorage. One evening I decided to indulge in a little fast food so I headed to the local McDonald’s. When I was walking in I noticed a man in a wheelchair outside but didn’t give it much thought. After eating and reading the paper I walked outside to go back to my hotel. The man was still sitting there. I knew he was homeless and likely hungry so I asked him if he’d eaten. He hadn’t so I gave him a few dollars and told him to get something to eat. And then I asked him if he had a place to sleep that night. He told me he didn’t and I knew that a spring storm was coming in that evening. I walked inside and asked one of the counter people if she knew of a shelter in town and she told me about one near downtown. I got the address and directions and walked outside. “Let’s get you to the shelter, have you stayed there before?” He told me he had stayed there but that it was likely full given the approaching weather. I told him to not worry about that. I helped him into my rental car and loaded his wheelchair in the trunk. The drive to the shelter was about twenty five minutes and perhaps one of the most enlightening experiences of my life. I’d always kept my distance, never fully engaged with homelessness. Until then.
