Around 11:30 a.m. on Christmas Day, a little strip of Ervay Street in Dallas, off Canton Street, looks like Santa’s alley: People wearing Santa hats serve up warm meals, Christmas music plays, and once in a while, a car drives past, the driver handing out money. LeTitia Owens said it’s a far cry from what it looked like around a decade ago, when she started coming out to serve people on Christmas. “No one was hardly out there at the time, and so, to see all these people here all these years, serving—it’s sad, because the need is greater, but it is so amazing that so many people find it in their hearts, on Christmas Day, to come and be a blessing and to be answered prayers,” said Owens, who heads up a nonprofit called, Where Are You? Homeless Outreach. She gives out snacks, soda, water, and flashlights. Just a few feet away, Myron Jones, Senior Pastor at The Abundant Life Worship Center DFW, has set up camp with his team from Mesquite. “It’s just a reminder how fortunate that we are and not to take anything for granted, because, truth be told, many of us are one paycheck away from being in this same line. And so, I don’t want that to be lost on your viewers: To be grateful for how God has blessed them mightily, and to remember to give back,” Jones said. His group gave out hot meals, cooked from scratch, as well as cold weather gear. He said his church has been doing feedings on the first Saturday of the month for the last four years, extending it to Thanksgiving and Christmas mornings a couple of years ago. “When you are living amongst this population, you feel as though society has forgotten about you, that God has thrown you away and that He no longer loves you, but that’s the farthest thing from the truth,” Jones said. It’s a feeling Owens knows well. “I lived in my car back in 2012,” she said. “It felt lonely. It felt like, ‘Where is the help that I need?’ But the Lord provided people with blessings and gifts, which taught me the same thing that I wanted to do.” From homeless to helper, that’s why Owens decides to help create a corner of Cheer in Dallas every year. “Put our hands on them, touch them, have a short conversation, and just remind them that they are loved,” she said. ...read more read less