Just as we were about to leave, we met a landlord who nominated his newest tenant.
I explained the rules, which are the same for all of our Pay 6 Forward stories:
*You can't keep it yourself
*You can't be a relative or someone you live with
*The money needs to be a friend or a neighbor or someone from a church group who is going through a particularly hard time.
*They have to be available RIGHT THEN for the surprise!
"She has 4 children, but 2 of them live with the grandmom because she can only have 2 live there because she can't afford it," he told us. "The other two have to live with the grandmother so they can live."
That's all we needed to hear. We headed to Jamie McDermott's apartment in Paulsboro. Turns out she works 2 jobs and babysits on the side. We hardly said a word before she started crying.
"I never thought this was going to happen to me . I always struggled and did what I had to do by myself," she said.
Within the past year, Jamie lost her dad, her house and has moved through a couple of apartments. She has a grandbaby and another on the way. And she watches her niece. They live in her tiny apartment, often with not enough food. They have no furniture, they sleep on the floor and the only mattress in the house is for the baby.
"Thank you so much I appreciate it all," she said. "It means there are people out there with good hearts that do care about other people and what they go through."
We have a new part of our Pay 6 Forward series underway. Just follow this link and tell us how you plan to pay it forward. Action News just might show up to help with your surprise.
