LA attorney lends house to homeless family

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LOS ANGELES, Jan. 2 (UPI) -- A Los Angeles lawyer, who said he learned kindness and generosity from his father's example, offered his home for a year to a homeless woman and her children.

The Harvard-educated attorney,Tony Tolbert, 51, moved back into his parents' home in order to lend his fully furnished home to Felicia Dukes and her four children, CBS News reported Wednesday.

His mother, Marie Tolbert, said, "He is so giving, and he's always been that way."

Tolbert said his father, Los Angeles entertainment lawyer Jimmy Tolbert -- who now suffers from Alzheimer's disease -- always had people who were down on their luck sleeping in a spare bed in the family's home.

"Kindness creates kindness. Generosity creates generosity. Love creates love. And I think if we can share some of that and have more stories about people doing nice things for other people, and fewer stories about people doing horrible things to other people, that's a better world," Tony Tolbert said.

Tolbert said, "You don't have to be Bill Gates or Warren Buffet or Oprah. We can do it wherever we are, with whatever we have, and for me, I have a home that I can make available."

Tolbert found Dukes and her three youngest children at Alexandria House, a shelter for homeless women and children, CBS News reported.

Tolbert's generosity allowed Dukes' older son to be reunited with his family, as he was above the maximum age to live at the Alexandria House.

"My heart just fills up and stuff. ... I'm just really happy," said Dukes.