Detroit Cobbler Moe Draper Serves All Souls

[ND-Dem]

"Cobblers are supposed to repair everyone’s shoes whether they have the money or not," Moe Draper tells The Detroit Free Press. In the unheated concrete-block he rents in Detroit’s open-air Eastern Market, Draper serves anyone who needs shoes repaired, regardless of whether they can pay.

Just a few years ago, Draper himself was homeless. For four months in 2010 he lived in his truck and shoe repair store downtown because he had nowhere to go. So he knows first hand how important shoes are for the needy.

Which is why Draper chose to learn the craft of cobbling after 15 years of shining shoes. First he researched how to become a tradesman. Then he attended industry association classes to practice...

Each week thousands of people flock to Eastern Market for its Saturday Market to enjoy one of the most authentic urban adventures in the United States. This is where Draper rolls up the metal window of his tiny shack in Shed 4, shines shoes for free and repairs them starting at $25.

Draper has a lot of gratitude. He recounts the story of a man who once tried to rob him. “I told him that basically he would set a record for the dumbest thing possible for robbing me. I said, ‘You’ll be so frustrated to see how much money is in my pocket right now.’ I think I only had like $10. I told him he’d get more out of letting me repair his shoes for free than he would if he robbed me. … He’s a paying customer now. … I’ve had more people talk about me for giving them free service, and I believe that’s why good things have come to me.”

[Guy Whitey Corngood]

1. K&R. nt

[onethatcares]

2. and when I'm feeling down

a story about a person like this lifts my heart to the sky.

Thanks

[ND-Dem]

3. me too; that's why i posted it. we need to hear more about such people and less about the turds

& users.