Dallas Hotel Houses Hundreds of Homeless People on Christmas Eve

Located right in the middle of downtown Dallas, the upscale Omni Hotel offered a free night to about 500 men, women, and children who were without a home on Christmas Eve in an event called “Celebrate Jesus.” NBC DFW writes that the Omni, along with the SoupMobile, provided a red carpet welcome, a lunch with Dallas Mayor Mike Rawlings, a movie night, a church service, and a free room for the night to those who often feel invisible.

“People don’t understand what it’s like to be in our situation, and a lot of it is not choices we made, it’s choices that were made for us,” April Booth told FOX 7 News. “We want compassion; we don’t want to be judged for where we’re at or what we’re doing. That’s all I would hope is for people to have more compassion.” Booth spent the night at the Omni with her 15-month-old before they return to a small apartment they recently moved into thanks to local organizations.

FOX 7 Austin wrote that in order for the event, which has grown from 100 to 500 guests in 13 years, to go off without a hitch, many volunteers are needed and planning begins for the next year as soon as the event ends.