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| Faige Jacobson and an assistant (Photo via New York Daily News) |
A Jewish woman vowed to continue with her homeless shelter despite the hefty fines she has received from New York authorities, according to a report by the New York Daily News.
The Crown Heights woman is paying the price for giving homeless people a roof over their heads.
People without money have come to the home of Faige Jacobson located on Lefferts Avenue for the last 40 years. The acts of kindness turned her two-story house into a homeless shelter.
Cribs and couches, and sometimes up to two dozen homeless, fill every space in Jacobson’s makeshift shelter.
"I was born to take care of these people. God gave me a big heart," Jacobson said. "Everyone who comes to Crown Heights knows they will not be on the streets," she said.
The 65-year-old is a mother of nine children and grandmother of 40 grandchildren.
She feeds homeless guests, washes their clothes, and even schedules their doctor's appointments.
Her older children help pay the monthly grocery bill of $2,000 and friendly neighbors leave food boxes outside her door to help her.
"We were brought up in an open house. We had to give up our bed for strangers," Simon Jacobson, 46, the eldest son of his mother, and investment banker, said.
However, no good deed goes unpunished. The New York City Department of Buildings has slapped Jacobson with more than $32,000 in fines since 2005 after inspectors repeatedly found beds in the basement and the kitchen, according to Department of Buildings records. The Department of Homeless Services said people should be sent their way.
"The families and the homeless should be in places where they can receive appropriate social services to reconnect with the community and return to self-sufficiency as soon as possible and the city has an extensive network of resources to do so." officials said.
Jacobson’s children have begged their mom to shut down the operation and retire.
However, Jacobson vowed to continue.