CINCINNATI — A few days a week, at just about any time, you'll find Letecia Cunningham handing out sandwiches, hats, gloves and hugs to people experiencing homelessness in Cincinnati.
Cunningham, or "Mama T" as the people she meets call her, doesn't get paid to do this. On the contrary, it costs her money to buy the goods she gives away. Still, she's done it for 10 years. And she's not stopping.
"I was a product of the streets," Cunningham said.
Cunningham said she was without a home once and made a promise that if she made it off the streets, she would help those who continue to deal with homelessness.
"I never want to forget what it was like to lay there — to be out here cold, to want something as simple as a soda and a sandwich," Cunningham said.
The people she serves know her car. By the time she opens the trunk at a Shell gas station on Liberty Street in downtown Cincinnati, there is a group surrounding her.
Cunningham hands out turkey or bologna sandwiches, a soda or two with a bag of chips. If she has a knit hat, socks and gloves to give away, she makes sure they take some. She also brings deodorant and feminine hygiene products.
When she's finally able to walk away from her car, she hands out as many hugs as she does sandwiches.
"They call me the mama of the streets," Cunningham said. "And that's because everybody out here just needs what we all need, and that's basic love. Some of these people haven't had hugs in years and they think that because they haven't taken a shower, or there on the streets that they aren't worthy of a hug."
Cunningham embraces those she sees on the street, adding, "Hugs are free."
Her work with those experiencing homelessness made her a finalist for the Upstander Award by the Nancy & David Wolf Holocaust & Humanity Center.
Cunningham said she's never taken donations, but she wouldn't turn them away. Her dream is to have a bigger car that would hold more food, drinks and necessary items to those in need.
To learn more about her work, or contact her, visit Cunningham's Facebook page.
