This is a story that I found really touching.
Nhiahni Chestnut and Dante White exchanged vows in the Grace Episcopal Church in Washington, DC's upscale Georgetown neighborhood. They ate chocolate cake, danced to "Take the A-Train" and took off for their honeymoon at the Key Bridge Marriot Hotel in Virginia.
After the honeymoon, the couple heads back to the DC streets where they live. Both Nhiahni and Dante are homeless.
The couple met at the Grace Episcopal Church's Bible study and meals program. White has been living on the street since he was thrown out of his mother's house when he was 14. With little education, he's had a hard time finding a job and an even harder time finding love.
Nhiahni herself had struggled with keeping her life afloat after her drug and alcohol abuse problems left her on the street. She says that when she met Dante everything just clicked, and the two starting hanging out.
After nine years of dating, the couple wanted to marry. The parishioners were enthusiastic about the idea and each took up the cost for parts of the ceremony- the rings, the dress, the tux, the cake, and the flowers. One churchgoer even paid for the honeymoon.
The members of Grace Episcopal Church are looking out for this couple. They want to find affordable housing for the newlyweds. They are currently getting together money for a security deposit on an apartment and a few other things to help the couple set up a home.
I hear a lot of people say that the homeless are homeless by choice; they don't want to work. They are lazy. Especially right now I don't believe that this is true. In the case of this couple, Dante was left to fend for himself at 14, which I'd assume kills opportunities for education or work experience. Most of the newly homeless are families, a trend that is growing across the country. Schools are taking on the role of social workers, giving kids basic necessities and meals twice a day.
There are incredible stories of people who persevere through homelessness to achieve great success, such as Jeannette Walls an MSNBC journalist whose parents were transients while she was growing up, or Chris Gardner who was homeless raising his son, and on whose life the movie The Pursuit of Happyness is based.
It makes me happy that the congregation of Grace Church not only pulled off a wedding for this couple, but is looking for a home for them. That is a real show of Christian charity to me, although I wish they could find employment, training, or education for the pair.
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