Montreal resident Jay Ritchie was working at a storage facility in St Henri and noticed a lady come every few days to her locker, Pascaline Bonkelo Okuma he discovered, is a refugee escaping violence in the Democratic Republic of Congo.
"She was living at a women's shelter trying to get her permanent residence in Canada," says Ritchie. "She asked me one day if I could help look at this form and tell her why it was rejected."
He helped her fill out that residency form properly, but there were many more steps to go - and the odd pair began meeting regularly to go through her paperwork together.
"Someone was in need and so I helped..." says Ritchie. "Who else was going to help her?"
They developed a friendship and Bonkelo confided about why she left, and how she's trying to get her family to safety as well.
She says the family had to scatter when they became targets of political violence - suspected of challenging the authority of the government.
"They said to kill every captain of the boats, and my husband was also a captain."
Bonkelo and Ritchie have been getting together in coffee shops for over a year, working on getting her husband and 4 children's papers in order to come to Canada - but all their missing now are plane tickets.
"She doesn't ask for things easily, she's often tried to give me money for working with her whatever she had - even though she has nothing."
Ritchie has started a fundraiser - to pay for the tickets to bring Bonkelo's family to Canada, and help them get settled.
"Jay, I can call Jay anytime Jay would answer the phone, he helps me very much," says Bonkelo. "He's someone that God sent to me, an angel."
There's been an outpouring of support with the GoFundMe raising over $3000 in the first 24 hours.