Be observant, be kind

Milwaukee bus driver Natalie Barnes noticed a familiar face on her route—a passenger named Richard. She had seen him before, but this time, something was different. Richard was unusually quiet. During her break, he approached her and quietly said, "I am officially homeless now." Those five words would change both their lives.

Surveillance footage from inside the bus captured their interaction. Richard explained that his home had been condemned. When Barnes asked if it was the same house that had previously caught fire, he nodded and said, "I've been out on the streets for a week." Moved by his situation, Barnes offered to buy him a hot meal and let him stay on the bus to keep warm during her shift.

He declined the meal but stayed on and the video shows Richard riding along quietly in the back of the bus as Barnes covers her route, with passengers coming and going. Barnes did not want the homeless passenger to suffer, especially on a cold night and wanted to help him get a place to sleep. He stayed in the back of the bus for six hours while Barnes continued her route.

In the video, she asked Richard if she could get him food at a store she was going to visit the next day. During her other break, they were seen getting back on the bus with what looked like bags of food. "I don't know what to say but to say thank you," Richard can be heard telling her later. "I'll get it back to you soon."

"I want to help you," Barnes assured him. After their encounter, the two kept in touch. "We talk every couple of days and he thanks me every time he talks to me for helping him," Barnes shared. "He calls me his little guardian angel. I'm happy to say that he's progressing well." Read more about their stories below.