Single Chicago Dad Gives Boots Off His Feet To Homeless CTA Rider

CHICAGO, IL — When Maurice Anderson noticed the ragged, worn sneakers covering the bloody feet of the homeless CTA passenger seated next to him Friday, he simply could've given the stranger a few dollars to buy bandages and new warm socks. It would've been seen as a small, selfless act on an especially cold, winter day.

But instead of money, Anderson offered something that would have a more immediate effect: The single dad from Chicago gave this man he had just met the boots off his feet. The gesture might have gone unnoticed if it hadn't been captured by another fellow Red Line passenger, who then posted photos and details about Anderson's kindness online.

"I love that in a time and place where hate and apathy are rampant, quiet compassion appears without warning," Jessica Bell wrote in a Facebook update Friday after witnessing Anderson's magnanimous display on her train ride home. "I pray that we all are compelled to do similar. … I'm inspired to continue to try to 'be the change' and I pray you are too."

In her post, Bell said the "older, weathered" homeless man had been sitting across from her on her train ride home Friday, Jan. 12, and she noticed the backs of his beat-up shoes had been folded down like they were slip-ons. Bell also said she could tell the man's feet were very swollen.

"I don't know how many pairs of socks he's wearing in an attempt to keep his feet warm but there is blood seeping through," she wrote.

Bell — the founder of Project: Bleeding Love, which raises money for homeless women to buy feminine hygiene products — wasn't the only person to notice the poor condition of her fellow passenger's feet. They caught Anderson's attention, too.

"Quietly, in a blink and you'll miss it fashion, the younger man [Anderson] takes off the boots he's wearing and passes them to the old man," wrote Bell, who described the black snow boots as looking new, expensive and "built for a Chicago winter."

She described the encounter on Facebook: "He opens his suitcase and gives him a pair of socks as well. The young man puts on a spare pair of shoes from the suitcase. These shoes are nice too, but not as nice as the boots. They would have fit the old man just as well, but they were not what this old man needed.

"He tells the old man to try and clean his feet and to make sure he changes into the new socks as soon as he can and then the young man gets off …," she added.

As for why Anderson, who was returning home Friday night after working in Kentucky, gave up his footwear to someone he didn't even know, it came down to following an old adage: If the shoe fits …

"He was bleeding through his socks, so my gut said, take them off and give them to him,” Anderson told CBS 2 Chicago. "I asked him what size shoe he wears. He said 12. I wear 12, as well."

Before Anderson left the train, Bell said she gave him her card and "how blessed I was just witnessing his heart." She then posted what happened on her Facebook page, and the update has received more than 2,500 comments and has been shared nearly 18,000 times since late Friday.

"Sometimes you read something like this that completely changes your day and restores my faith in the good people who are out there," one commenter wrote.

Another individual said she wanted to help Anderson find a job closer to home. According to CBS 2, he only recently found the Kentucky job as a service technician in order to make a living.

"I'm texting my husband right now. He is a supervisor in a construction company in Chicago. … [T]hey certainly work with a lot of subcontractors and I'm going to make sure that the word gets out and find this wonderful man!" the commenter wrote.

More via CBS 2 Chicago

Photo via Patch archive