A Harvard-educated lawyer in Los Angeles has loaned his home to a homeless family a full year because, for him, it’s the right thing to do, CBS News reports.

Tony Tolbert, 51, will move in with his mother while the new family takes the year to get back on their feet. Tony told CBS News that his giving spirit comes from his dad who always opened the family home to those who needed a place to stay. In fact, Tony says he could not remember a time there wasn’t someone extra living with the family.

Now, Tony is taking the step to carry on his father’s spirit of generosity in a major way. He reached out to the Alexandra House, a homeless shelter for women and their children. There he found Felicia Dukes, the woman to home he offered to loan his home. “They had a young man that wanted to donate their house to you for a year,” Dukes recounted. “And I’m looking at her, like, what? Like — Are you serious?”

Dukes was sharing a single occupancy room at the shelter with three of her children, but it was for kids only. Another problem was that her older son could not join them, so Dukes was truly in a bind before taking Tony’s offer. “My heart just fills up and stuff, um….I’m just really happy,” Dukes said tearfully.

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Tony also gets emotion when talking about how generous his father was and how important he feels it is to carry on his legacy.

“Kindness creates kindness. Generosity creates generosity. Love creates love,” he said. “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.”

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