A Perfect Miracle Match
Bonnie Boal and Hannah Tate have been miracle friends for more than a year. Bonnie has been through a 8-year journey from the beginning of homelessness to finally having her lovely apartment in San Francisco with an amazing view from the 17th floor. Bonnie is a native Californian who loves to cook, and has a beautiful service dog named Biscotti, who is an Alaskan Husky who also loves Hannah.
As a college graduate, Bonnie never expected to experience homelessness, she has lived in shelters, stayed with friends and even lived in her car. Bonnie Boal learned about Miracle Messages while she was living at a shelter. Instantly, she thought it was a great idea and decided to be a part of it. Bonnie proceeds to say, “At that time, they were giving people free phones. But at that time I didn't really need a phone, but I definitely needed a Hannah in my life. They set me up with Hannah and she was perfect. She’s such a blessing in my life.”
Hannah grew up in Texas and recently moved to New Jersey and is studying secondary special education and double majoring in English. Hannah enjoys spending time in nature, reading, writing, cooking, baking, music. She is currently into old country music and is hooked on making crispy, salty kale chips. Even though Bonnie is literally across the continent from Hannah now, Bonnie and Hannah had been phone buddies for almost 10 months when they met each other in person at two different occasions, one being when Hannah traveled to California and took Bonnie out to lunch at an amazing Japanese restaurant. Hannah brought Bonnie the most beautiful flowers and Bonnie described it as the most perfect afternoon.
They went shoe shopping together along with another one of Hannah’s friends, Stella. “It was so cool going shoe shopping with these two fabulous college women. I never had so much fun buying shoes in my life,” mentioned Bonnie.
The second time they met was at the 4th Annual Good Neighbor Awards & Gala where Hannah received an award from Miracle Messages for being an amazing Miracle Friend volunteer. Bonnie had the pleasure of introducing her. They dined at Green's restaurant, which is one of Bonnie’s favorite restaurants in San Francisco.
Bonnie and Hannah have a very genuine relationship even with a 45-year difference in age, they can talk, laugh and cry about anything. They share many similar interests like cooking, baking, and a mutual love for animals. Bonnie loves hearing about Hannah’s college experiences, her life, her cat and dog and what she cooks, and where she travels. Hannah texts pictures of her vacations and they stay up to date.
Hannah’s favorite part about the conversations is that she learns something different about Bonnie during every single phone call. “Bonnie has such a full life and has so many experiences, and stories, and it’s just so cool to learn about.” Bonnie is delighted to talk to Hannah because she’s reminded of the interesting life she’s had and it’s nice to have somebody view her experiences with joy and awe which is very life-affirming.
Hannah has also gotten to know a lot about Bonnie as a mother with 3 kids and it’s touching because Hannah is also close to her mom. Hannah feels as though she talks to Bonnie more than most people in her life.
When asked, would you recommend miracle messages to other people and why? Hannah replied, “I feel like I recommend this all the time to people. Because to me, there’s nothing about it that is inaccessible to a volunteer. Everyone spends so much time on their phones, why not do the same thing you’re doing, but in a way that also helps another person; provides them with a friendship. I feel like it’s such an accessible and beautiful way to make a difference and also to have your life be impacted positively as well. For me, I did this originally, for a friend like Bonnie, because I wanted to be a friend to her, and then on the other side of things, I also had part of my heart felt healed by the friendship because of things that I would do with my own friend who experienced homelessness and it’s like, it’s just such a beautiful thing how there’s such a basic need of housing, food and all of those things that are so important. But then there’s also a basic need for connection and everyone wants to be loved and to love and I think Miracle Friends gives everyone that opportunity. It doesn’t matter what you’ve gone through, you’re still a human being, you’re still deserving of connection and love and I think it’s a cool concept and it makes a really big difference for people.”
Become a part of Miracle Messages and help our unhoused friends by either volunteering, donating, or following us on social media.
