Free poverty level housing would not have helped this man very much. He was crippled with addiction and depression, largely from losing his wife and having some hard times in life. Sitting in some old decrepit building wouldn’t have solved any of that, his issue wasn’t being out in the cold.

What he did need was compassion and someone that he might be able to consider a friend. This woman treated him like a human, let him around her kids, took him to get a haircut, and gave him a sense of purpose. She restored his will to live.