Rich People See Homeless Couple Move In Next Door

And they're a little surprised
By Neal Colgrass,  Newser Staff
Posted May 4, 2019 10:20 AM CDT
Rich Guy Invites Homeless Couple to Move In
Stock image.   (Getty Images)

A couple that spent nearly 10 years living on the streets is now residing in a wealthy neighborhood—and some residents are a little unnerved, the San Francisco Chronicle reports. It all began when Terrence McGrath, a Bay Area real estate developer, read a column about Greg Dunston and Marie Mckinzie struggling to survive amid daily threats, violence, and crushing poverty in Oakland. So he offered them an empty in-law unit on his 4,500-square-foot home in Piedmont, a mostly white city where the median home value is $2.3 million. Now Dunston, 61, and Mckinzie, 53, have a bed, a kitchen, a bathtub, and neighbors surprised to see the black couple sitting at the bus stop. "It feels good being inside for three months," says Mckinzie. "I like it up there, but the situation..."

By that, she means calls to local police. But McGrath saw that coming and warned the cops ahead of time. "When people have called, we’ve not even responded," says police Capt. Chris Monahan. "We've called them and said, 'Oh no, those are the people that live in the house. [McGrath is] trying to help them.'" Some callers complained about Mckinzie smoking marijuana on the street; now she smokes in the back yard. And with nearly $1,200 in monthly food stamps and federal supplemental security income between them, per the Chronicle, Dunston and Mckinzie are holding on. McGrath, who is white and 60, says he wants nothing in return. "I have a personal obligation to take responsibility when I see injustices," he says. "And to me, this is a clear injustice." (More race relations stories.)

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