"Christmas Eve at the homeless shelter looks the same as any other night: Kids running around. Volunteers serving coffee and Kool-Aid. People looking for a warm place to spend the night. Then something magical happens"--

The story of John Day Lucks has been a part of my life for many, many years. The character of John was born one magical Christmas season in a bedtime story I created for my two beautiful daughters. As usual, while tucking my girls into bed at night, they would ask to hear a story. Call it Christmas Magic. Call it love. Call it a combination of both. Suddenly in my head blossomed the idea for a story of a young boy with a heart of gold, who lived a difficult life through no fault of his own, and who deserved something better. With it being the holiday season, what better backdrop for the tale than Christmas Eve. A Homeless Christmas is a story of hope and love, abandonment and salvation. And a true Christmas Miracle.

"Of what use is one ugly little tree?" Atop a windswept hill, a crooked little tree stands alone . . . until one Christmas Eve, when an old woman labors up the hill with a box of ornaments, and tells the tree that he is special. He is to be the official Christmas tree for all of the homeless people in the city below! Year after year, colored balls and garland adorn the tree at Christmastime, but one year, the woman does not come. Will there be a Christmas for homeless? This story is based on actual events about a funny-looking mimosa tree that sits above a busy freeway in Fort Worth, Texas. A formerly homeless woman decorated the tree, year after year, so that the homeless would have a Christmas tree. When she died, neighbors took over the custom and now decorate it for Easter, Halloween, and other holidays as well. It can be seen on the north side of Interstate 30 near the Oakland exit.

A homeless boy's rescue of a scrawny Christmas tree sparks a glimmer of hope that has far-reaching effects.

A homeless child, Jamie, wishes he could go to school to learn and play instead of hiding outside the windows. And he'd love to take a bath in a real bathtub, instead of slipping inside the carwash when a car is going through. But what he longs for most of all is a family to call his own and to love him.

A New York Times Notable Book Whether Lee Stringer is describing "God's corner" as he calls 42nd Street, or his friend Suzy, a hooker and "past due tourist" whose infant child he sometimes babysits, whether he is recounting his experiences at Street News, where he began hawking the newspaper for a living wage, then wrote articles, and served for a time as muckraking senior editor, whether it is his adventures in New York's infamous Tombs jail, or performing community service, or sleeping in the tunnels below Grand Central Station by night and collecting cans by day, this is a book rich with small acts of kindness, humor and even heroism alongside the expected violence and desperation of life on the street. There is always room, Stringer writes, "amid the costume" jewel glitter...for one more diamond in the rough." Two events rise over Grand Central Winter like sentinels: Stringer's discovery of crack cocaine and his catching the writing bug. Between these two very different yet oddly similar activities, Lee's life unwound itself, during the 1980s, and took the shape of an odyssey, an epic struggle to find meaning and happiness in arid times. He eventually beat the first addiction with help from a treatment program. The second addiction, writing, has hold of him still. Among the many accomplishments of this book is that Stringer is able to convey something of the vitality and complexity of a down—and—out life. The reader walks away from it humming its melody, one that is more wise than despairing, less about the shame we feel when confronted with a picture of those less fortunate, and more about the joy we feel when we experience our shared humanity.

Welcome to Joses Christmas tree farm where Eva, Jack, and Harry are finally grown enough to be selected. Eva glitters in garland and tinsel. Jack is strong with thick branches. The two are quickly selected by passing customers while Harry a homely tree with holes in his shrubs remains alone, shifting his branches to be more attractive. As Christmas Eve approaches, Harry stands alone on the lot. Will he be picked for Christmas or wither and die in the whipping cold? Find out in this holiday tale that defines the Christmas spirit and teaches children compassion for the nations homeless.

An inspiring story of friendship and survival between two unlikely people--a homeless, disabled vet and a mother with two young children.

A homeless family's luck changes after they help an old woman who has even less than they do at Christmas.