CityViewNC.com | 51
S
ometimes what we hunger for the
most isn't about food. It's about
receiving "the humble heart," if
you ask restaurant owner Pornjai
Smith, the unofficial godmother
of Person Street.
At her modest PJ ai Cuisine, a
convenience store-turned-eatery, she offers
encouraging words with no judgment. Some
of her customers are without homes, hope or
any kind of happiness. But, when she smiles
at them, somehow the glow transfers. Like
a magic beam of light that travels from one
human being to another. And nothing can
stop the flow.
Her acts of kindness are quiet, from
offering clothing in a back office to help with
transportation and finding jobs. "Ms. PJ" or
"Mom," as she is oen called, knows that she
cannot help everyone, but she tries.
And, of course, Ms. PJ feeds them, too. "Pay
what you can, when you can," she says to those
who have fallen on hard times, as she discreetly
hands them a carryout container filled with
delicious food. Because she too knows what it
is like to be hungry.
A few have returned and offered to pay full
price for their meals. e once displaced, now
with shelter and jobs. A recovering addict who
recently completed rehab. A former prostitute
who was trained as a nurse and returned to
that profession. ose closest to Ms. PJ say
their turnaround is due to her influence, which
gives her great joy, but she takes no credit.
Perhaps life itself has given her a greater
capacity to nurture and love. Hers has been
a journey of pain, loss and survival, from her
native ailand to America, from orphan
to widow and breast cancer survivor and
unimaginable abuse. She rarely shares her
personal story, preferring to listen to those in
front of her. She credits her faith, her God, for
getting her through it all.
'Ms. PJ' brings hope
and a humble heart
to her eatery that
feeds bodies and
souls on the edge of
downtown Fayetteville
by Clayton Britt & Sons
3703 Bragg Blvd., Fayetteville, NC 28303
910.868.8319 | customercare@spaandpoolworld.com
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