Elmer Alvarez, who was homeless, found a cheque for £7,500 but decided to return it to its owner instead of keeping it. His honesty ended up bringing him more than he expected.
A homeless man returned a £7,500 cheque he found and broke down in tears after being given a life-changing reward.
This heartwarming story of a homeless man finding a large cheque and returning it shows the kindness that still exists in people.
At the time, Elmer Alvarez was homeless. Despite many people in his situation possibly keeping the cheque, Elmer chose to find the rightful owner.
Elmer had faced challenges like drug addiction, mental illness, and a criminal past. However, he had been working to change his life for three years before finding the cheque.
When he found it, his first thought was, “I need to find this person,” and not about cashing it for himself.
In an interview, Elmer shared that he never thought about keeping it because he had already made the decision to turn his life around, and he had been clean for three years.
He got a friend to help him call the phone number on the back of the cheque to find the owner. He explained that he could only imagine how upset the person must have been to lose such a large amount. “I’d feel desperate if I were in their shoes,” he said.
Elmer was able to contact the owner of the cheque, Roberta Hoskie, a real estate broker from New Haven, Connecticut.
When they met, Roberta admitted she thought she would meet someone well-dressed, clean-shaven, and in a suit. But after meeting Elmer, her assumptions were completely changed.
Roberta immediately offered him a reward, and Elmer was so overwhelmed that he cried. However, her generosity didn’t stop there.
After their first meeting, Roberta helped Elmer find an apartment and paid his rent for seven months until he could support himself. She also helped him enroll in real estate school.
Elmer and Roberta teamed up on a real estate project that wasn’t meant to make them money, but to help others in need. They planned to create a transitional home for homeless teens and young adults, offering essential support services.
Elmer, having experienced homelessness himself, emphasized, “I know what it is to be homeless. No one should have to live like that.” Roberta agreed with him.
Today, Roberta runs a multi-million dollar real estate company, along with a foundation, a real estate brokerage, and a real estate school. However, she revealed that her background was similar to Elmer’s.
“He didn’t know who I was,” Roberta shared. “He didn’t know I had been a single mother, on welfare, and even homeless at one point.”
Elmer shared that returning the cheque and seeing Roberta’s happiness was more rewarding than any cash reward, and he would gladly do it again.
Roberta praised him, saying, “We need more people like Elmer Alvarez. He has a heart of gold. He’s an incredible person.”
Roberta later started the Outreach Foundation, a non-profit organization aimed at providing affordable housing for low- and middle-income families. The foundation purchased a two-family home to assist 15 people, and she appointed Elmer as an advisor for the house.
In her 2021 book *Poverty Curse Broken: The Roberta Hoskie Story*, Roberta discussed her relationship with Elmer. On Instagram, while promoting her book, she shared, “I tell the true story of Elmer Alvarez, the homeless man who found my cheque for over 10,000, from my perspective. I share what the media didn’t.”
