I was blessed to be able to experience a moment of grace that came unexpectedly.

I was at a resale store to interview the woman who has helped hundreds of struggling people.Bobbi Sue knows some people find themselves in circumstances where they have nothing. Some don't have something as simple as a bed to call their own.Many of those she helps are not the chronically poor. They are people who work hard all their lives but are barely getting by. If they are suddenly hit with a blow such as an accident, major illness or loss of job, the little bit they had can be lost."So many of us are only a paycheck away from a disaster like that," says Bobbi Sue Burton. She started the Project Phoenix resale store in Florida to help those starting over with nothing.How she managed to do that with a just a few helpers is a story in and of itself. Even after she collected six storage bins filled with donated household goods and clothing, and even after she found a reasonable place to rent, it took her three months of hard work to turn an empty space into a resale store.She worked at it every single day then left each night to work the third shift as a nurses' aide. When there was no money for electricity, she worked by candlelight.Why she did it is as interesting as how she did it."There was a time in my life when I had five kids, no money and no place to go. We all slept in an old car until a kindly woman offered to give us a home to live in," she said.But even then she had no beds, no furniture, none of the basics most of us take for granted."We had absolutely nothing, not even a towel or blanket of our own," she recalled.When her new neighbors learned of her plight, they brought over donated furniture, bedding and basic kitchen things.That was 20 years ago, and life got better for Bobbi Jo and her family when she married and moved to southwest Florida where she had her own home."But I never forgot the emotional pain of having nothing, and I was all too aware of those who are still suffering."I wanted to help by opening a resale place where the needy could come to get the help they needed without being asked to pay for it," she said.That's the remarkable story behind an even more remarkable woman.But wasn't why I was headed to the resale store to do a story on Bobbi Jo. I had received an email telling me that the woman who did so much for so many struggling people now is the one who needs help.Because she has an inherited disorder that dramatically increases the risk of many types of cancer, she's been hit with one cancer after another, including colon cancer last year. Just as she is mired in medical debts, she lost her health insurance.She is also in dire need of a car because the engine of her old car blew up and can't be fixed.When I went to interview Bobbi I thought we would be talking about her plight. But when I asked what kind of help she most needed, she didn't respond with her own needs. She wanted me to write about the need for more volunteers to keep the resale store running because she is afraid it will fail if she's too sick to be there. It was 91 degrees outside and it felt even warmer inside the resale store. The air conditioner had failed and the landlord said he couldn't get it fixed for a while.He told her to close up and go home."I can't allow someone in need to come here for help only to find the place closed," she said. So she stayed, working in insufferable heat.Here's where the surprising moment of grace came.A guy who just started his own air conditioning company heard about her plight and came to help. He did more than fix the air conditioning problem. He also pitched in to help with the heavy lifting in the stockroom.He also said he just purchased the contents of a storage unit and promised to bring it all there to help the nonprofit.When he later learned Bobbi Jo had all her teeth pulled because of side effects of radiation, he was saddened to hear she was in pain and couldn't eat solid food.Later, he and his fiancee showed up with a cold milkshake for Bobbi Jo. It was just their small gesture to show they cared.It was a case of one good soul responding to another good soul.They say when you witness a moment of grace, what you're seeing is Christ in action.I know it touched me to my core.I don't know what the future has in store for Bobbi Jo. She's a fighter and will keep fighting cancer so she can continue to help others.But I do know when she is ready to leave this earth she will have the comfort of knowing her life counted for something meaningful.And ultimately, isn't that what really matters?Contact Pattie Mihalik at

newsgirl@comcast.net.