AUSTIN, Texas — Amid a contentious debate over the direction Austin takes in solving homelessness in the city, Ify O. takes the side of the people at the center of the issue.
- Woman feeds homeless out of her car
- Has been doing it for 20 years
- Says its her calling
Ify takes one day out of every week to drive down from her home in Round Rock with a SUV full of food, ready to serve people on the sidewalk outside of the ARCH shelter downtown. She's been doing this ever since 1996. As a Christian woman, she says it's her calling from God.
"It’s just my call, my ministry," Ify said. "I love to do it and God sent me."
Ify uses her own money to buy groceries for the meals. She spends a good chunk of her day, starting at 11 a.m., cooking the meals. Sometimes, when cooking is too much of a hassle, she says she'll pick something up on the way.
"Sometimes I bring pizza," Ify said. "A lot of pizza, sometimes for over a hundred."
Aside from occasional assistance from her children or one of her friends, Ify makes this trip and serves the meals by herself. She'll sometimes enlist the help of a volunteer on the sidewalk. The folks Ify serves said it's the least they could do for somebody showing great kindness.
"I’m broke right now. I ain’t got no money to buy me something to eat right now, you know what I’m saying," Edward King said. "She comes and helps me out to get me something to eat so that’s a blessing."
Ify has kept the same operation for years. She hopes one day to save enough money to buy a vehicle or storage container that keeps her food warm during the long drive from Round Rock to Downtown Austin.