Kindness of unhoused woman inspires downtown Prince George business

One downtown business was inspired by the generosity of a member of the city's unhoused community to pay-it-forward this holiday season.

In a social media post, Kimberly Hayhurst, owner of the craft and coffee bar the Makerie on Fifth Avenue shared the inspiring story of one of her customers named Janice.

“We hear a lot of negativity towards our unhoused population downtown, and yeah, it’s not all good. But, having operated our business here for the past two-and-a-half years, we can also say that there is incredible generosity among them,” explained Hayhurst in the post.

She said Janice had often come into the Makerie to use the bathroom to wash her hair. They would often have conversations about how she wants to make colouring sheets for people and she’d give visitors a history of downtown including recommendations of where to go.

“The other day she came into a studio filled with families and kids crafting. It was a pretty wholesome day in the shop. She started handing me cash which I insistently handed back to her. She had received her money for the month and wanted to buy every single kid in the shop a hot cocoa. With whipped cream. And a cherry on top.”

Hayhurst said it was like fighting with an uncle or grandparent who was trying to buy dinner. There was no winning the argument that she should keep the cash.

They instead put her cash in an envelope called the Janice Fund that they’ll give back to her when she needs it.

However, Janice’s thoughtfulness inspired Hayhurst and her team at the Makerie to make Janice’s wish come true that every single kid should get a free hot chocolate.

In the spirit of Janice’s generosity The Makerie decided to also give out free hot chocolates to anyone who wanted one on Christmas Eve from 10 a.m. all the way to 3 p.m.

“As a new business, things are still a struggle, not [going to] lie. It’ll be a lean Christmas for us. But we have a house. I have a car that I can start from my phone to warm up. My family will be together, and everyone is healthy. I’m posting this from my iPhone. We are privileged,” added Hayhurst.