News photographer helps turn around homeless man's life

[FiveMagic]

It's an old cliché, yes, but it still rings true: sometimes one person can truly make a difference.

 

Case in point: fifteen years ago, Toronto Sun photographer Dave Thomas met Kirk Grimes under the Jane Street bridge. Thomas took Grimes — who at that point was living under the bridge and had a drug habit — home and offered him a shower, new clothes, and a chicken dinner. Grimes went back under the bridge that night, but soon after, buoyed by Thomas' kindness, called his family and started to rebuild his life.

 

Now, Grimes is married, drug-free, and counsels other addicts. Last week, he decided to call the Toronto Sun and say thanks to Thomas for the act of kindness that proved the impetus for the change in his life.

 

The action of one person made a massive difference in the world of another.

 

This story is a heartwarming one in a media environment that is often swamped with bad news. But it's also more than just a feel-good story: it's a reminder that our actions to others — our little actions that we don't notice, the way we interact with the strangers we pass on the street — can mean much more to someone than we realize.

 

Not everyone can or should take a homeless stranger home and offer him a meal and new clothes. But we all do see hundreds of people we don't know every day, and the way we interact with those people (even if just for a microsecond) can be the difference between a good day and a bad one.

 

We may not realize it right now, but a small act of kindness — smiling at someone on the street, holding a door open for someone at the grocery store, saying thank you to someone who is watering the plants at the office — can be very large to someone else. Dave Thomas' small kindness ended up helping to change Kirk Grimes' life.

 

Sometimes one person can truly make a difference

 

http://news.sympatico.ca/oped/coffee-talk/news_photographer_helps_turn_around_homeless_mans_life/f88b3c68

 

You can also watch a video from the Sun here: http://www.torontosun.com/2011/08/20/sun-photogs-helping-hand-turns-homeless-mans-life-around