We often take basic necessities for granted: food, water, a roof over our heads, a warm bed to sleep in… However, not everyone is so lucky.
And that’s exactly what police officer Leonardo Almeida recently found out when he looked inside an abandoned car in a Boston suburb.
That was a night at work in a suburb of Boston, Massachusetts called Taunton. While Leonardo Almeida was out on his regular patrol with his partner, he noticed an abandoned car in a large parking lot.
When the officer turned on his flashlight and took a closer look, he was in sh0ck.
There were two adults sleeping in the front seat.
But when he looked at the back seat, he saw something even more heartbreaking. The couple’s two young children were also in the vehicle, according to Boston25News.
Almeida immediately asked the family how they were doing, and the parents told him that they had recently become homeless after they were forced to sell their house. Now, the whole family was living in their car and parking in a different parking lot every night.
Hearing the family’s tragic story, officer Almeida felt compelled to act. He called a nearby hotel and booked the family a room.
The room cost $190, and without thinking twice officer Almeida paid for it out of his own pocket. He didn’t even tell his bosses about it. And if it weren’t for his partner, no one would know about his act of kindness.
“Our new officer took it upon himself to make arrangements because they had no place to stay, because it was cool in the evening. Leonardo, is my opinion, a humble man and cut out for this job,” Paul Roderick, a lieutenant at the Taunton Police Department, told Boston25News.
The family’s children seemed to be in good health, but the incident was reported to social services, which is protocol when children are found homeless.
Officer Almeida really seems to understand what his community needs most. No children should have to live in their car. Share if you agree!
