- [Dara] Most days, this part of the Target parking lot on Albemarle Road is filled with the cars of shoppers.

But now it's filled with tables and volunteers to serve the homeless.

- When I was out talking to the unhoused, I was getting the impression and I was getting actual rhetoric from them saying that they couldn't travel to uptown to seek resources.

- You done good.

- I appreciate it, bro.

- [Dara] So, Officer Gary Ritter with the Charlotte Mecklenburg Police Department decided to bring assistance directly to them through the Umbrella Project Outreach Initiative.

- I'm gonna give you my business card as well.

- Thank you.

- This is a pathway for them to be able to get help that they need, talk to folks, get resources started so they can help themselves get off the street.

I'll try to get you some help, get you back on your feet, but this is exactly what this event's for.

- [Dara] Some of that help includes job skill training.

- I'm 63 years old, it's kind of hard to get a job, you know?

- [Dara] Housing placement.

- They help me get a place.

- [Dara] And access to medical care, but these aren't the only challenges the unhoused community faces.

(poignant music) - People don't like you when you're homeless.

I lost all my friends.

People lose your number.

They don't call you back.

Nobody cares when you get homeless.

You know, they treat you like a dog out here.

- [Dara] For seven years, Brian Donato has been struggling to get by, living out of his '94 Dodge Intrepid.

- It's my home.

It's my safe haven.

It's the only thing I got left.

- [Dara] The backseat of his car where you see the pile of clothes is the place he never thought he'd have to sleep at night.

But health issues caused him to lose everything.

- I've had four heart attacks in a row.

I've had five stents, and I couldn't work all day long.

I couldn't work all week and I needed help and I couldn't get any.

- [Dara] Brian isn't alone.

According to the Charlotte Mecklenburg Housing and Homelessness dashboard, over 3,200 people in the area don't have a home.

- Did you want a sandwich?

- Yeah.

- Which is something Jonathan Dulin is working to change.

- Yeah, I was walking actually in this parking lot and I saw a, actually a whole encampment of homeless that were living in these very woods, and they actually came to me and they said, they motioned me to come into the woods with them.

- You have your hands full here of blankets.

And that's exactly where he took me, into the woods, as he carried a large box of blankets to give to the needy braving the cold.

- They're valuable, they're people and you know, it would be just a few more steps.

I could be out here myself, and so I don't see myself as any different.

I did want to go, just go around and if anyone has anything that they would like to share or prayer requests or anything- - [Dara] The same way he cares for the less fortunate in Charlotte by giving them necessities and praying for them is the same way he cared for people overseas as a missionary for nearly 20 years.

- I met the homeless living below the manholes in Russia.

And we would go out and I would find homeless and sometimes we would bring them in when it was negative 30 or 40 degrees because you would start missing fingers and legs or death.

- [Dara] It's a journey that began when Jonathan visited Russia for the first time at 19 years old and saw the poverty.

- I never really set out to think, "Oh, I'm gonna make a career path as a missionary."

It just kind of happened.

- [Dara] That accidental career also led him to countries like China, Mongolia and the Philippines.

His wife Carrie of 22 years was with him for all of it.

- It's definitely inspiring.

He has a lot of energy and just new ideas and just a passion for what he does.

Reaching people and showing that, you know, they're valuable and they have a purpose.

(bright music) - [Dara] In 2022, the couple moved back to the US with their four kids and decided to settle down in Charlotte.

- [Jonathan] I grew up here and I grew actually in the east side of Charlotte, not too far from the Target parking lot.

Do you remember the time it was raining?

- [Dara] The same Target parking lot where you'll find him every Wednesday afternoon, passing out food and building friendships with those who need it most.

- One homeless man wrote me one time, he says, "You know what?

We're invisible out here.

People look through us and around us, they don't look directly at us."

And the goal is to look directly at them because they're created in the image of God and God loves him.

All right.

Let's play.

- [Dara] Can at the end of every day when he returns to his home.

- That's a nine, I think.

- After serving those without a home, he knows there's still much more work to be done.

- Well, you know, you can always call me and I will take you if you need it, man.

- For "Carolina Impact," I'm Dara Khaalid.