COLUMBUS, Ohio — Staying cool in triple-digit temperatures is a challenge for all of us, but not everyone is able to limit their exposure to the extreme heat.

On most days, you can find John Crabtree strumming a guitar near the driveway to a Columbus shopping center.

“I've been playing since I was 11,” he said. “I’m pretty much self-taught. I've been playing about 35 years now.”

Since his dad was a disc jockey, he said he grew up around music.

“I had recording studios in my house and stuff,” he said. “So, I played trombone and wind instruments in school.”

But as an adult, his life recently took a drastic turn. Crabtree said he lost everything after he traveled to Ohio to attend a funeral.

“I got sick, I had went through some cancer treatments and my ex I was with, she ended up clearing my bank account and left,” he said. “And COVID hit. When COVID hit, I lost my business and got stuck.”

With much of his family no longer living, he said he had no one to turn to for help. He is now homeless.

“I grew up in the media and I played football, and I had money to my name,” Crabtree said. “So, it's a big culture shock to me. I wasn't doing drugs or anything. I was sober when I became homeless. This is a big stroke of bad luck, you know what I mean?“

“Most of us, we couldn't last a day,” said Sandy Bonneville. “And, so that's just the main thing is you feed people, see if you can help them, and you don't judge.”

Twice a week, Bonneville and her longtime friend Terry Clark visit Crabtree and others who are homeless on the west side of Columbus.

“I cook over 100 meals a week,” Bonneville said while driving, on the lookout for people who are often overlooked. “Terry helps, does the bags when I’m cooking. And then wraps them. We have a system. It works.”

The women represent the Take It To The Streets team of Saint Aloysius Community Outreach and deliver meals and other donated items to anyone who could use a hand.

“They know this car, I could never sell my car,” Bonneville said.

With the temperatures soaring during this week’s heat wave, dropping off cold water is a priority.

“I just hate seeing all these people out, you know, suffer,” Clark said. “You know, they got no air, they got no fans. They got no food. It’s just a shame.”

When there is no safe space to park the car, Bonneville stays behind the wheel while Clark hops out of the vehicle to quickly pass out bags packed with food to those in need, trying to not delay traffic.

“I get cussed out,” Bonneville said, of responses by other drivers. “I get flipped the bird more than the day of Thanksgiving.”

But the negative reactions do not deter the volunteers, who said they perfected their routine during their nearly six years of working with the ministry.

“Kindness to the homeless is the biggest commodity that they don't just don’t have,” Bonneville said. “Showing that kindness. You can tell how thankful.”

Offering help to people with no real place to call home is something Bonneville has done for three decades. She said the level of need now is greater than ever and gets worse every day.

“If they were doing something wrong and if they were arrested, they'd get three squares,” she said. “They get clean clothes, they get a roof over their head, they get air conditioning, they get health care, they get education and all this.”

Lately, she said they find new people out on the streets each time they make their rounds.

“Given stuff to people that were digging through trash,” she said. “It’s hard to believe that this is 2025 and this is just in one area. It’s everywhere. It’s everywhere.”

Monday afternoon, Bonneville parked her vehicle near the overpass where Sasha Clickner usually finds some shelter underneath.

“We might go to a couple of friends’ houses every once in a while, but not really,” she said. “So, we just stay around here, for real, or go under the bridge and get cooled off, because it's nice and windy under there.”

Bonneville said cooling centers or shelters are not always an option for many who are homeless.

“They can't bring their pets,” she said. “And if they leave stuff, they may not find it when they come back. You gotta realize, that's all they have. That is it.”

The sun beat down on Clickner and three others gathered around the trunk of Bonneville’s car waiting to receive some chilled bottled water and food. Clark also passed out packages of wet wipes and a clean pair of socks.

“I get burned really easily,” Clickner said, referring to the reddish-brown hue on her shoulders. “It’s horrible.”

Clickner said she also got “burned” by the “wrong crowd” three years ago and lost her home. She has lived outside since, unsure how to get back on her feet, she said.

“Like, you don’t even know where to start, you know what I'm saying?” Clickner said.” Like, I don't know. It's just, it's rough. You know, it's not a lifestyle that I would have chosen ever. Ever.”

After serving everyone in the immediate area, Clark used the heel of a shoe to break up a large chunk of ice to replenish the fast-melting supply used to chill bottles of flavored water in a large plastic tote before she and Bonneville continue their journey.

Now in their 60s, Clark and Bonneville’s lives have been intertwined since they were 1 year old. Bonneville said their parents were close friends and both households were like one big family. She said Clark’s older siblings would stick up for Bonneville when other kids bullied her, often about her autistic brother.

“It was kind of hard growing up because nobody understood that then,” Bonneville said. “And I didn’t have a whole lot of friends. But there’s six of them (kids in Clark’s family).”

Now Bonneville and Clark are committed to helping make a difference in the lives of people let down by society, Bonneville said.

“They’ll say, ‘Will you pray for me?’” Bonneville said. “And I’ll say, ‘If you pray for me.’ And they get that look like... God said, ‘There will always be the poor and blessed are the poor.’”

She said small gestures can have a big impact on someone who is struggling. For example, tossing an extra bottle of water in the car and giving it to someone on the corner who lacks housing.

“When you're nice to people, and you give them what they need and what you can,” Bonneville said, “it's good for society as a whole.”