Community Rallies To Replace Homeless Man’s Belongings After They’re Burned By Rioters

A fire hydrant on the street

It’s stories like this that are keeping me going right now.

Turn on the news or log on to social media and you’re sure to see stories about all of the evil in the world. Police gassing innocent protesters, looters destroying buildings in their own community…it’s depressing to watch when you feel so helpless right now.

But there’s a lot of good in the world right now too – even if they aren’t showing it on TV.

I was heartbroken this weekend when I saw a video of a homeless man’s belongings being burned during protests in Austin, Texas. The man, identified only as Cale, frantically pulls his mattress off of a fire while screaming “I live here!” as he tries to save his belongings.

Fucking heartbreaking. A man whose entire world and all of his possessions are on the street under a bridge, watching everything he owns go up in flames at the hands of people that have nothing to do with legitimate protests. That’s his home, everything he owns, and it was destroyed.

But luckily, this story has a happy ending.

An update posted on TikTok features Cale proudly showing off his new possessions after the community came together to replace what he had lost. In the video, Cale says that people brought him a new tent, a new air mattress, food, clothes, and even money.

Cale says that he loves Austin and has “no hard feelings at all,” saying that it was just a “bad place at a bad time.”

Man, if only we could all have that attitude.

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