I thought of Mrs.

Avery and Walter and how each had refused to present kindness as something grand.

Maybe that was why it had been possible for me to accept it.

PART 19: A Letter From Someone I Had Never Met

The first summer after the fund opened, a handwritten letter arrived addressed not to the office but to the Open Door team.

Nadine brought it to me with a puzzled expression because the envelope had no return address.

Inside was a thank-you note from a man named Rafael who had attended our budgeting workshop after losing his job at a warehouse.