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VANCOUVER, WA (KPTV) — Almost every day, weather dependent, you can find Loretta Shaw and Andrew Stewart out and about in downtown Vancouver on one of their walks.
It’s an unlikely friendship between an 81-year-old woman and a 39-year-old convenience store manager, and the path that forged their bond is both heartwarming and heartbreaking.
Thursday, Stewart told Fox 12 he got to know Loretta causally as a frequent customer of his store, the Plaid Pantry off Fourth Plain Boulevard and Kauffman Avenue.
He always admired her impeccable wardrobe and her heart for those less fortunate.
“She would come in with other folks living on the street and buy them sandwiches,” Stewart said.
During a freezing night in late October, Loretta came into the store and Stewart saw a different side of her.
“She was obviously in distress,” Stewart said.
Loretta had a secret.
“Clearly, her hands were blue, she was freezing cold, her face was blue,” Stewart said. “It was a freezing cold night, the heater core in her car had broken.”
“No one knew that she did not have a home,” Stewart added.
For nearly two years, Loretta lived out of her car.
“It’s hard to sleep in a car, even though I’m short,” Loretta Shaw said. “You just never feel safe and sometimes (you’re) cold.”
She became homeless when the house she rented in Vancouver sold, and she couldn’t find another place she could afford.
“That was hard for me to accept. Being homeless,” Loretta said. “I was never homeless before, that was a first for me.”
Loretta’s spirit is arguably stronger than most.
“What do you do?” Loretta said. “You just face it and carry on.”
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But Stewart wasn’t going to just turn his back and carry on.
“It was obvious that without immediate involvement, she would not survive one more day,” Stewart said.
And every day since, Loretta’s been staying at a room at the Econo Lodge in downtown Vancouver, thanks to Stewart’s effort to raise funds by rallying west Vancouver’s Hough neighborhood, near his store.
Stewart said he could have never done so much without the generosity of the community.
“A lot of them live paycheck to paycheck who don’t have a lot to give, they went out of their way to save this woman,” Stewart said.
From there, a GoFundMe was launched. So far, it’s raised more than $24,000.
“What it fundamentally means is Loretta will never be homeless again,” Stewart said.
Now that the hard work is done, there’s still plenty to do.
Loretta is helping Stewart learn to play the violin.
Stewart insists his new friendship has changed his life just as much as he’s changed Loretta’s.
“She saved me,” Stewart said. “It has restored my faith in humanity, and I lost that this year. Come March, my life just fell apart — It was just endless days of gray.”
“It wasn’t really until Loretta came in that morning, with hypothermia, with blue hands and no car, that I realized what I really had,” Stewart said.
And although Stewart says he doesn’t have a lot of money, he does have a lot of time. And he’s spending it with Loretta.
“You are my best friend,” Stewart told Loretta. “I spend more time with you than anybody else.”
According to Stewart, several nonprofits have also stepped up to help Loretta, who suffers from some memory issues. Union Gospel Mission and LifeLines Connection are just two of the organizations helping Loretta connect with housing and other services.
Stewart said Loretta will go look at an apartment on Thursday and he hopes she’s in a stable living situation very soon.
If you’d like to donate to the GoFundMe for Loretta, you can do so here.
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