The Jake Story

For more than a year,  I've spent most of my weekends in Philadelphia, getting to know the gentleman in the picture above. 

What began as a quest to solve the problem of homelessness developed into a relationship that would change my entire paradigm, and I would like to share that story with you. Thank you for showing an interest in the Jake Story, I hope it impacts you as much as it has me.

Blame Tony Robbins

As the owner of a Home Improvement company in New England, I was driving to meet with our window manufacturer in Bristol, PA, a suburb of Philadelphia, I brought along the new audio book Money, Master the Game by acclaimed motivational speaker Mr. Tony Robbins. During the 5 hour trip, I found myself captivated by Tony's 7 simple steps to financial freedom, with #7 having quite the impact on me.  (Spoiler alert), #7 is The secret to living is giving. Tony passionately tells the story of the day that changed his life, when he didn’t have a dime to his name but after an encounter with a young boy and his mother at a restaurant he instantly became a wealthy man.

Little did I know that I was about to have one of those life changing days.

On Sunday June 7, 2015 I found myself walking around downtown Philadelphia in anticipation of my Monday morning meeting. I have many good memories in Philly. Back in my illegal alien days working in Wildwood, NJ, Philly was the closest city where we would go to see major live bands perform like Simple Minds or the Pretenders. I don’t recall noticing back in the early 80's, but on that day there were homeless people on almost every street corner. With Tony’s voice still ringing in my ears I stepped outside my comfort zone.

I decided to approach someone who was not panhandling, no cardboard sign, just sitting by himself on a metal picnic table at a Federal Building at the corner of Market and 7th. What do you say to a homeless person you have never met? Yep, I played it safe. Directions.

Pretending to be the confused tourist I asked, “excuse me, do you know where the Liberty Bell is?” The gentleman immediately stood up and pointed at the huge line across the street. I thanked him and asked him how he was doing? “Not so good”. How long was he on the streets? “Since 2001”. What’s your name, “Jake”. How old are you Jake? “I’m not sure”. Not the response I was expecting. He went on to explain that he had not celebrated his birthday for the last two years and didn’t know if that counted. He wasn’t smiling, so I wasn’t smiling. At that exact moment as I slowly sat down at his table, I felt something I had never felt before, a connection to a complete stranger who happened to not have a home.