It was the bitterly cold winter of 1981 in the city of Toledo, Ohio, when six homeless persons froze to death amidst the streets and abandoned buildings that were part of a major downtown revitalization project. For Judy Armour, the tragedy was a wake-up call. "I thought, here we are renovating the city and people are dying in the streets! What happens to these people?"

She decided to do something about it and set out to meet the homeless. What she found was a group of intelligent people who had simply fallen through the cracks. "They couldn't find a place to stay or live and didn't feel safe in shelters, whether it was their sense of pride or their sense of fear," Armour says.

One man, whom Armour remembers as "a lovely gentleman who suffered from an incredible sense of guilt and loss," was more concerned about the needs of everyone else than his own. "He asked me, 'What do you see when you look at me?" I said, 'Hopelessness, helplessness, pain.' He said, 'How can a Christian person see that and not do anything about it?' It stopped me cold. I decided I wouldn't go home until I found him a place to live."

Armour helped the man by connecting him to some community-based programs and bringing him to talk with counselors. She was moved by his commitment to others on the street. He remembered everyone's shoe size and was always trying to find shoes and other items they needed. He wrote a letter to his family every day and put it in the pages of a Bible, believing that if they were willing to find him, they'd find the love letters he had written. The man was the inspiration that led Armour to create a homeless shelter.

After putting together a board of directors, establishing funding through an umbrella organization and finding a residence, Armour opened the shelter in 1982. The facility deals with individuals who have serious health problems and might otherwise be dying on the streets. "We were advocates for them and found out what their needs were, whether it was health, joblessness or rehabilitation," Armour says.

Armour says she was sad to leave her work with the Toledo shelter when her family moved to Lancaster, Pa., and later to West Chester, Pa., where they now reside. But, she has continued her commitment to the homeless.

For the past six years, Armour has volunteered her time at the St. Agnes Day Room in West Chester. The facility advocates for the homeless and works to integrate them into community programs. It also provides breakfast and hot lunches to 75 homeless and indigent persons five days a week. Once a month, Armour takes a turn preparing the meal for 75. She also serves as director of special events, arranging trips to such destinations as Longwood Gardens.

Through the Catholic Leadership Experience, Armour also coordinates A Day of Service program. "We take 150 young people and fan them out into the community where they provide a day of service in whatever capacity is needed," she explains. "Young people were very much a part of my ability to start the shelter in Toledo. It seems to be a recurring theme in my life. They have so much to contribute."

Armour's own children are no exception. After years of helping their mother work with the homeless and serve the needy in other ways, they each have developed their own commitment to community. Daughter Mary, now a sophomore at the University of Delaware, gained recognition in high school when she developed a program for the prevention of teen suicide. The program won numerous awards and has been adopted countywide.

"My kids certainly remember being dragged along to the shelter on numerous occasions. I think it helped them develop a real sense of social awareness and consciousness," she says.

After focusing intently on her volunteer work for so long, Armour is now looking to resume her professional career as a research chemist and genetics health educator. As a U.S. government expert on PCBs, she has worked in the past to rid the environment of cancer-causing chemicals. She says she hopes to return to her profession with the same devotion that she brings to her volunteer work for the homeless.