Last winter, Sharon Alexander was able to continue being generous to others, thanks only to the generosity of others.

For years, Alexander had been coming every Sunday evening to the homeless encampment underneath the 980 freeway on Oakland's Martin Luther King Jr. Way. She would bring with her vats of homemade beef stew and trays of warm cornbread she had prepared in her kitchen earlier in the day.

Alexander called her mission Arthur Jean Safe Place, named after her late mother.

Then, in November of 2022, Alexander's life took some unexpected and unfortunate turns. Her long-time partner, Ron, died. She was unable to afford rent for the home they had shared for years and soon lost that as well.

In what felt like a blink of an eye to Alexander, she was homeless. She squeezed what belo

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