Loretta Shaw is the kind of person who will say hello to everyone she passes on the street during a walk.
She is also one to buy a sandwich for someone who is homeless and hungry.
At 81 years old, Shaw just sees a need and wants to help however she can.
And she’s homeless herself.
In stepped her Vancouver neighborhood. This group of friends, who all live and work in the Hough area, have banded together to give Shaw the kind of help she gives to others.
Andrew Stewart, 39, has managed the Plaid Pantry at Fourth Plain Boulevard and Kauffman Avenue for the past 11 years. He said Shaw has been a regular customer. At first, he didn’t know she was living out of her car.
“My employees and I thought she worked in the area,” Stewart said. “She always came in dressed in professional attire. But as time went on it became apparent that she was living in her car.”
About a month and a half ago, Shaw came into the Plaid Pantry shivering after a cold night.
“She came in and she was blue, freezing cold and I knew right then and there the situation was untenable,” Stewart said. “I had to get her someplace warm and someplace safe.”
Stewart said one of the regular customers at his store took Shaw to a motel to warm up and get a hot meal. A group from Living Hope Church paid for some of the motel costs, and Lifeline expedited its hosting placement program.
Stewart started a GoFundMe page (“Keep Loretta out of the cold!!!”) that has brought in more than $6,000 to date, which was boosted by another friend who put the fundraiser on the social network website Nextdoor.
“I can’t express how generous folks in my neighborhood have been,” Stewart said. “And lots of them are blue-collar, working-class people living paycheck to paycheck who went out of their way to save this woman.
“When we started the GoFundMe, we were incredibly desperate.”
Shaw, originally from Corvallis, Ore., lived right across from the Plaid Pantry until the house she was renting was sold. She couldn’t find anything affordable to rent. And she’s all alone. Her husband and son have passed away.
“That was most of it. I couldn’t find affordable housing,” she said. “So I went to my car, which wasn’t too bad … until winter. But here I am, and I’m happy.”
The group currently helping Shaw would like more. Donations are still being accepted through the GoFundMe page, and Stewart said anyone can stop by the Plaid Pantry and ask him how they can help. He’s even collecting Christmas cards at the store from those who want to send their support.
“It astonishes me how hard it is to get help for someone who needs it,” Stewart said. “I just can’t allow this to happen. I swore an oath to her that she will never be homeless again.”
For his part, Stewart takes meals to Shaw twice a day, goes on walks with her, does her shopping and just spends time with her.
“I don’t have a lot of money, but what I do have is time,” he said.
