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Homeless man grateful for college student's compassion that went viral
Jazz Reese said he never thought video of his encounter with a generous woman at an Atlanta Popeye's would go viral. Employees at the restaurant called police when the student tried to buy the man a meal.
ATLANTA - A homeless man from Atlanta is grateful for the compassion a college student showed him, trying to buy him a meal at Popeye's after workers called the police to have her arrested.
That man, Jazz Reese, said he never expected the video of the incident to go viral. Popeye's workers refused to allow the Georgia State University senior Jo Ortega to buy Reese a meal. Ultimately, officers didn't do anything since they determined she wasn't breaking any laws.
Ortega hasn't stopped there. Reese said he's reconnected with the kindhearted woman. Thanks to all the attention, he said he's temporarily off the streets.
"I didn’t expect any of this. And it’s all surprise to me," Reese said. "She actually got me a hotel room last night. She bought me some new clothes, she bought me some timberland boots."
Reese said that was the first bed he slept on and shower he was able to use in more than three months.
Ortega has launched a GoFundMe and is working with a group called Soup for my Family ATL to find Reese permanent housing.
"I love Jo, I haven’t met Jo very much," he said. "I’ve only seen her twice in my life, and she has done what she’s done for me and God bless her so much."
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Atlanta Popeye's wouldn't allow food for homeless man, woman says
She said police responded by did not charge or arrest her.
Reese recalled the incident that brought Atlanta police to a Popeye's near Ponce de Leon Avenue.
"She said, ‘Hey, want some food.’ I said, ‘Yes, ma’am, I’ll take some food.’ She asked what do I want to eat? I said, ‘I would like to have a two-piece.’"
On the video, a Popeye's employee tells Ortega, "No ma'am, you can't do that," when she tried to buy a meal for Reese.
Reese said he grew up in Cabbagetown and has been battling homelessness all his life. He said Wednesday night was the first time in three months he was able to shower or sleep in a bed.
"We don’t have what you all have," Reese said. "Everybody’s one paycheck short from being homeless themselves. They just don’t realize it."
He’s an aspiring artist who hopes the viral video helps him sell his work. Reese couldn’t over-emphasize his gratitude toward Ortega for the simple good deed, now seen around the globe.
"I wish there was many, many more people in the world like Jo," Reese said. "Any type of help that anybody gives anybody, the man upstairs, God, said he’s going to give it back seven times over."
As for the workers at the Popeye's, and others who may overlook the humanity in people experiencing homelessness, he had a message.
"We don’t have what you all have. Everybody’s one paycheck short from being homeless themselves," Reese said. "They just don’t realize it."