I knew we couldn’t turn every possible need into an emergency grant.

No budget could cover the entire distance between hardship and security.

But I was glad we had created a process that recognized an ordinary expense could carry extraordinary consequences.

Nadine asked whether I was thinking about Walter.

‘I suppose I always am when I see a small number doing important work.’

I had once imagined charity as a grand act performed by somebody with a large bank account.

Since then I had met people whose generosity came in quieter forms: the bus driver who waited, the teacher who wrote down an address, the retired neighbor who warmed stew, the diner worker who refused to give a stranger a young mother’s personal details.