NEW HAVEN, CT (WTNH/CNN) – A homeless man, who returned a lost $10,000 check, is now getting help from the woman who lost it.
Elmer Alvarez was surprised when he found an envelope on the ground with a check for more than $10,000 inside while walking in downtown New Haven, CT.
But he didn’t think of himself or what he could do with the money.
"I was just thinking about how that person was feeling by losing… an amount of money like that. I'd be feeling kind of desperate,” Alvarez said.
The person missing the money was Roberta Hoskie, who didn’t realize she’d lost the check until she got a phone call from Alvarez and his friend.
"Service to others is the rent we pay to live on earth, that is true,” Hoskie said.
Hoskie recorded her meeting with Alvarez on Facebook Live, during which the man returned the check.
"He had no idea who the person was behind the check. He didn't know that I was a single mother. I at one point was on welfare [and] at one point found myself homeless,” Hoskie said.
Alvarez says giving the check back and seeing Hoskie’s reaction was better than $10,000, and he’d do it all over again.
"Seeing her happy, seeing her appreciating it and all that, it made me feel good,” Alvarez said.
Hoskie is now trying to say thank you. She wrote Alvarez a check and is helping him to get an education and an apartment of his own.
"There need to be more people like Elmer Alvarez. He's a golden heart guy. He's a phenomenal guy,” Hoskie said.
Hoskie says she hopes one day Alvarez will pay it forward and help someone else who’s struggling with homelessness.
Copyright 2017 WTNH, Roberta Hoskie/Facebook via CNN. All rights reserved.
