Virginia woman, aided by others, feeds hundreds of homeless people

Published: 2003-12-04

FAIRFAX, Va. (CNS) -- When Thelma Billy moved to the Washington area nine years ago, she began making friends among the homeless. One of her first friends was Lawrence, whom she met in Lafayette Square across from the White House as she was heading home for the evening. Lawrence was picking his dinner out of a trash can. "He was eating chicken bones," Billy said. "I told him I'd come back." The next day, Billy returned to Lafayette Square to bring Lawrence a hot meal. Within a short time she was preparing hot meals at her home in Fairfax for hundreds of homeless in the District of Columbia. When Lawrence was found frozen to death, Billy began distributing blankets whenever she could afford them. In a few years, Billy's service to the poor has grown exponentially. "They all know me," she told the Arlington Catholic Herald, newspaper of the Arlington Diocese, across the Potomac River from Washington. "They even know my car."

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