Once upon time there was a woman who liked to help poor people. She was always giving them food and a place to stay. She organized other people to help her so that she could give more poor people a place to stay and food. Many poor people were helped with a place to stay and food because of this kind woman.
Eventually the woman got old and she died. She left her house empty and hadn't thought to put it in a will. The house was left empty for many years.
One day some homeless people came and moved into her house. They were very poor. They had no money or tools so they did not take very good care of the old woman's house. They could not mow the lawn or fix broken windows. The house began to look shabby but they were happy to have a place to stay and could spend their time finding ways to get food too.
The town where the old woman used to live saw that the house was looking ragged. They remembered the good works the woman had done and decided that there should be a monument to her charity. They found some things she had written talking about giving to the poor and helping them have food and a roof over their heads.
The people started a committee and the town gave them funding. They used the money to fix up the old woman's house and put good locks on it so the homeless people could not get in and ruin it. They put her famous writings on display in glass cases inside the famous little house. The little house did not look shabby anymore and the neighbors were pleased with it.
People came to see the famous woman's house and her historic writings. It was part of the town's historic tour every year.
The homeless people who used to live in the old woman's house went to live behind a gas station between a cyclone fence and a big dumpster. They put old cardboard over them at night so they wouldn't get wet and they looked for food in the dumpster. They had a sort of roof now and some food, but they did wish sometimes that they were still in the little house that the town had turned into a symbol of helping the poor.
The poor homeless people went to the house once when it was open for the holiday tour. They were asked to leave because they did not have a ticket to enter. The tickets were sold in memory of the old woman and the proceeds went to the poor. The house was named after the famous old woman and became a tax exempt non profit status organization. All the famous people came to it when they wanted a picture taken, it was a fine project for the town. The town was very proud of its new monument and the effort to help the poor.
Copyright 2010- MLT
