Minnesota Cafe Owner Employs Homeless Individual And Revives A Belief In People

Five years had passed since Abby Smith started working at her little Scandinavian restaurant. She had spent all her time, energy, and resources working toward opening her own restaurant–her ultimate goal. Her objective was to be a successful business owner.

Abby had ten years of experience in the restaurant and hotel business. As a result, she was used to working long shifts with demanding clients and nasty colleagues. Because of this, she felt confident that venturing out on her own to start a company was the right decision.

Abby never failed to get up at the same time, 5:00 a.m. every morning. The weekend had passed, and it was the beginning of a new workweek–Monday morning had arrived.

Abby arrived at her workstation with a positive vibe and eagerness to begin a productive day. She cleaned the surfaces, prepared the day’s food, and opened the front door so that the day could officially start.

The homeless man asked her in a pleasant voice. “I’m Ricky, do you have any spare change?” Abby saw the eyes of the homeless man and realized he was unhappy. “Do you not have a job?” Abby questioned frankly. When he heard what she had to say, Ricky was taken aback.

Abby had seen Ricky, the homeless man, hanging about the area for quite some time. However, she never witnessed him engaging in any incidents, which led her to believe he was simply a loner.

Abby hired Ricky because she needed assistance in the kitchen. He was over the moon; it was the best thing that had happened to him in some time!

Abby was startled when she saw Ricky rush out the door, but she immediately began to run after him. When she caught up with him, she saw that he had handed the meal to another person living on the street.

For the rest of the day, Abby focused on getting to know as much as possible about Ricky. She wanted to know him more.

Abby was aware that she would be unable to keep Ricky on permanently since the restaurant was not generating enough revenue. Times were tight, and Abby was having a difficult time making ends meet as it was.

To Abby’s surprise, Ricky showed up the next day at the restaurant and every day after that for the next two weeks, ready to start work.

As soon as Ricky got his paycheck, he went to Abby’s restaurant and purchased a sandwich, and of course, she offered him a staff discount! She waved him off and then started packing up her things for the day.

As Abby was preparing to close the restaurant after a long day, her phone rang–she didn’t recognize the number when she answered it.

“Do you know Ricky?” an authoritative voice demanded. Abby’s heart began to race as she wondered who was calling her. “It’s the police,” the man uttered. “We have some information about him that we think you should know.”

The local police stated they had run across Ricky quite a few times while patrolling the streets, so they started investigating.

“Bring him in tomorrow. Make sure he’s at your restaurant; we want to see him,” the police officer ordered.

The next day, Abby arrived at work feeling uncertain and anxious. As usual, Ricky appeared at the entrance with a big smile.

Like always, Ricky was jolly, humming his favorite tune while clearing tables. But when he turned around, his smile dropped as two policemen entered through the front door.

Ricky quickly attempted to flee the restaurant, but the two police officers blocked his path. They weren’t going to let him get away.

You see, four years ago, after his acting career failed to take off and he had run out of money, Ricky ended up on the streets.

They told him, “Come with us now,” as they led Ricky outside and into their police car. Abby felt sick to her core watching all this as she stared out the window and saw Ricky get pushed into the vehicle.

After two hours, still nothing. Abby was dying to know what was going on, hoping that she would get a call from the police or Ricky would come back. Luckily, that morning had been busy, but as the afternoon went on, she still had yet to receive any messages.

A well-dressed man with a freshly shaven face walked in and smiled at her. She didn’t immediately recognize him, but she certainly recognized his smile. It was Ricky–but he looked completely transformed! The police had taken him to the barbershop, paid for a haircut, and bought him new clothes. But they did not stop their good deeds there.

The officers rallied the community to help, and soon people from all over were donating clothes, food, furniture, and other essential supplies to help Ricky get back on his feet. They also helped him find a job and provided emotional support during this difficult time. It was indeed a community effort to help him get back on track.

Ricky was moved to tears despite assurances that the assistance he received was meant as a “hand up, not a handout.” They said he had already done the majority of the work putting his life together by looking for a job.

Ricky had gone through a lot during his four years surviving on the streets. But this new place represented a fresh beginning for him, and he was determined to do all in his power to work his way out of being homeless. He didn’t want to live in the streets again.

While they were waiting for Ricky’s housing application to be processed, Officer Brandford and his family helped him. The officer had been storing all of the donated belongings in his garage.

Officer Brandford had even contacted Ricky’s mom in Puerto Rico. After not seeing one another in person for four years, they finally caught up through video chat.